Ashes (Rewrite)
by Kallypso
Summary: After sacrificing everything to save her friends, Liz Parker, Lightning Alchemist, ended up on the other side of the gate with a voice in her head and a scar that won't let her forget. But Amestris isn't done with her yet and she'll do anything to get back home. Or so she thinks. All things come with a price. REWRITE of the sequel to Lightning Strike. Check out the book 1 rewrite!
1. Prologue

_**A/N: Hey everyone! Well, the good news is, I'm ready to start the next rewrite! The bad news is, its just a prologue this week. What can I say? I'm on vacation.**_

 _ **Still, updates will hopefully continue on the regular. Not sure how much rewriting this book will go through but I don't anticipate too much. I've been wrong before though.**_

 _ **ENJOY!**_

 **Prologue**

Ever heard the phrase, 'we don't know what we have until it's gone?' I have. I've heard it about every damn day in my head for the past year. Surprising given the screwed up life I've lead.

But for all the hardship in my past and present, I really did have a _good_ life. I mean, yeah there was a lot of heavy stuff to deal with. The murder of my family, my revenge spree, my bout of intense depression. And once I finally crawled out of that hole, I stumbled into naive employment in the military and ended up tangled in a conspiracy of genocide, homunculi and philosopher's stones.

It was a lot for one person to deal with. And eventually I just wanted it all to be over. I wanted peace.

I guess I didn't think about what I would have to sacrifice to get that peace. Or what would happen after our ordeal with Dante ended. I guess I never considered that I would be alone.

Through the trials of the past, I gained more than I ever realized. I didn't just find myself and come to terms with my old mistakes. I found friends who truly understood me and were willing to fight by my side. Friends willing to sacrifice for me. Friends for whom I would sacrifice everything.

In the end, I guess I did sacrifice everything. And in turn: equivalent exchange. I got something back.

Through the bad stuff, I made unseen gains that shaped me as a person. And through the good stuff—when I saved Ed's life—I also ended up totally alone on the other side of the gate.

Life is too simple now. I miss my old life, and its stupid complexities. I miss my friends. Edward, Alphonse. All the idiots in the small, non-corrupt sector of the military, Roy Mustang included.

I even miss Envy.

It's sad that things happened this way, just as I was beginning to understand him. And admittedly I sank pretty low when I threw myself into Ed. I'd made Envy relive a nightmare of sorts from his past.

There isn't a day that goes by when I don't feel guilty for that. But I don't regret it all the same.

Equivalency is the truth.

The gate told me that. He told me it just isn't always apparent at first. But I wish it was.

If I knew what I had gained immediately I would appreciated it more. I would have savored it. I would've never complained so much. I would've loved my screwed up life. It sucks not knowing how much you have until it's too late.

Then again, I guess that's life.

It's everyone's life.

It was my life. And you know what?

I want it back.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Just a short bit. Hope you enjoyed and let's see where this rewrite takes us.**_

 ** _I'll have more updates about my other fanfics soon. Sorry for abandoning so many of them._**

 ** _In the mean time have a good week and REVIEW!_**


	2. Chapter 1: Long Awaited Customers

_**A/N: Happy Tuesday everyone! And thus, we start in to chapter 1 of the rewrite. This chapter kind of combines the first two chapter of the original fic and changes up a few scenes but nothing too major. Hope you enjoy!**_

 **Chapter 1: Long Awaited Customers**

By the time sunlight streamed through the cracks in my curtains, I had already been up for an hour, polishing my knives. They lay out across my desk in a perfect row, all different shapes and sizes. I'd started collecting them sense I landed on the other side of the gate. It was something to pass the time that used to be filled by philosopher's stone hunting and being kidnapped.

The polishing had become a morning ritual of sorts to clear my mind of any unwelcome dreams. I cleaned each one with care and arranged them neatly across the desk. First the newest ones, then steadily moving up in age. Finally I cleaned the two oldest, most important blades. My knives from my old life, etched with my transmutation circles.

They were useless here. This world didn't have alchemy. But they were still some of my only trinkets from my old life.

I polished my pocket watch last and lay it out over the desk, wrapping the chain around the outside. Then I sat back in my chair with a sigh.

 _"Excellent. Perhaps if you're done, you can start your actual day, little human?"_

I gritted my teeth together. "Don't call me little."

 _"I'm not referring to your height. Merely your insignificance."_

"Yeah, great," I glared at the ceiling. "If I'm so insignificant then just _get out of my head_ , _Truth_!"

Oh yes. Important detail about my new life here. Not only had I retained my knives and pocket watch, but I had also picked up an unwelcome leech on the way through the gate. That being Truth. Knower of all and personal pain in my ass.

Apparently Truth decided that not only did he want to stalk my dreams or throw me across dimensions but he also wanted to hang out in my mind, providing less than welcome commentary on my actions and fortune cookie advice. This would have been okay, I guess, if he had some helpful things to say. But mostly… nope. He was just there to be obnoxious and occasionally give philosophy lessons.

"Remind me again why you take the time to hang around in my head," I muttered, standing from my chair and slipping my jacket on.

 _"I have nothing better to do of course!"_ Truth giggled creepily. He did that alot.

"Yeah, well you could stalk someone else." I stashed my favorite knives in my belt and slid a few extras into the band around my thigh.

" _Well I don't care to. You're interesting enough to entertain me_ ," Truth said. _"Also, as I am Truth, I can multi task. I'm doing plenty of other productive things right now. This whole endeavor is really just a—"_

"A hobby?" I asked dryly.

 _"Exactly!"_

"Fan. Bloody. Tastic." I sighed. "And why exactly are you so interested in me starting the day?"

 _"I see it being an interesting day."_

"Want to give me anymore to go on?"

 _"No, not really."_

"Great. Then shut up."

"Liz? Are you up?" Gracia called from the stairwell. "Come on down! I made breakfast."

"Coming!" I called, adjusting my jacket. "Just in time, I'm starving."

 _"You could have gone down earlier then,"_ Truth stated matter of factly.

See this is the problem with talking to myself. It's almost never to myself anymore because Truth comments on everything said. He's incredibly annoying like that.

I stuffed my pocket watch in my pocket, clipping it to my belt before I let my jacket shield it from view. Then I trotted down the stairs.

Gracia smiled as I entered the room and sat down in the chair "How are you this morning, Liz?"

"Dandy." I gave her a thumbs up. "A little tired is all."

"I see." She slid a bowl of colorless porridge in front of me. It was all anyone could really afford these days for breakfast, if they were lucky. "You haven't been sleeping much lately have you?"

I shrugged. "Yeah... I don't sleep too well at night anymore."

A sad understanding smile flitted across her face. As far as everyone else knew I was an amnesiac, with no memory of my previous existence. If I told them I was from another dimension, they'd put me in a padded cell and never let me out again. But the amnesia thing was a good cover story and it got me a lot of sympathy from the neighbors.

"Well," she turned back away from me and proceeded to clean the counters. "If you don't mind helping me tidy up the place later today, I'd be obliged. Oh, and I need some more fruit from the market. We have new customers."

I straightened. "We do?" It had been awhile since the inn had gotten any fresh business. With the tense political situation and economic crisis, not many people felt comfortable travelling. We got a few regulars but new customers were good news. "When did they get in?"

"Late last night. You were already asleep and I didn't want to wake you." She turned back to me, tossing the towel between her hands. "A father and son. And they're busy by the looks of it. They left early this morning."

"Gives me time to clean then." I slid my bowl back. "If you don't mind, I'll take a quick stroll around the neighborhood and get that fruit first before the sun gets much highter."

"No rush," Gracia said. "I appreciate the help, as always."

"Aren't I obligated to help you." I pointed out. "You have let me stay here for two years, free of charge."

"You've earned your stay here Liz." She assured me with a smile. "Don't worry about it."

"Thanks." I smiled, heading for the door. "I won't be long!"

* * *

It was just past 9:00 AM when I headed out for the day. The streets were bustling with the usual morning crowd, all chattering over the daily paper or browsing the street vendors. Children ran around playing with their makeshift toys, their squeals of delight echoing through the streets. Times were hard but people still managed to keep positive, be happy, and live their lives. I hadn't been so good at the keeping positive thing lately.

"Good morning Liz" Officer Maes Hughes called from the street corner with his usual wave. "Glad to see you out and about today."

I couldn't help but grin. At least I had Hughes back in this world. He was as friendly as ever, and just as smitten with Gracia as the other Hughes. This one, of course, hadn't worked up the guts to confess yet, but I was working on him.

"Morning officer Hughes." I joined him on the corner. "How's traffic today?"

"Let's see... No riots or brawls" he mused. "No thieves... no crazed people with guns... over all a good day." He smiled. "And how are you doing on this fine morning? Any progress with your memories?"

"Nope." I shook my head. "The amnesia is ever present."

"Ah, well. We're glad to have you in this fine city as long as you'd like to stay" he grinned and patted me on the back. "So uh... how's Gracia doing?"

"She's still single, if that's what you're asking." I smirked. "Jump on the chance Hughes! It won't last forever."

"Hmph" A light blush colored his face. "You should respect your superiors a little more Liz. I'm not insinuating anything! I'm just concerned with her wellbeing as a woman running a business on her own. Besides, she's a close friend."

"Uh huh." I wiggled my eyebrows. "Very close."

"You're impossible." Hughes sighed.

Suddenly, a cry echoed from across the square. "My purse!" The crowds shuffled, as if parting for someone. "My purse. Someone stop him!"

A man broke through the crowd, dashing at top speed, a wild look in his eye. He was so focused on getting to the other side of the square that he didn't even see Hughes. Which of course meant he didn't notice me until I stuck my foot out and tripped him. He went sprawling across the cobble stone.

"Everyone's on hard times right now, man," I said lightly, looking down on him. "Don't make it harder for someone else."

Growling, the man drew a gun from his jacket. "Not a step closer!" The crowds backed away, gasping. I stood my ground, a dark smile on my lips.

"Okay, you want to play?"

I flicked my flicked my jacket aside, drawing one of my knives from my belt. The man fired but I was already running toward him, leaping in the air and kneeing him directly in the nose. He fell back, raising his gun to fire two shots in the air. I caught his hand before he could fire a third. My knife cut deep into his palm and the gun toppled to the ground.

The robber twisted, trying to get up again but I stepped to the side, planting one foot on his back and twisting his arm hard. The move pinned him soundly to the ground.

"Now if you don't mind." I reached down and scooped the purse up with my knife. "I'll be taking that. And you can go on a little walk with Officer Hughes."

The crowds applauded and I struggled not to look at least a little pleased with myself as I stepped away and let Hughes handcuff the delinquent.

"Thanks for the help, Liz." Hughes hauled the man to his feet. "I'd better take this young man for that walk. I'll talk to you later though."

I watched him disappear down the street, a small smile on my face. I had to appreciate the little bouts of excitement. They were so few and far between.

"Ah… excuse me?"

I turned to see a young woman with blonde hair facing me. She gestured to the purse, still hanging on my knife.

"That's, uh… that's mine."

"Oh. Right." I slid the purse off the knife and handed it off. "Here you go."

"Thank you." She bowed her head, a gracious smile on her face. "I would have been lost without that money. I can't thank you enough."

"Ah, it was nothing," I said, running a hand through my hair. A short pain jolted through my abdomen and I cringed, cupping one hand over my chest. Shit. I overexerted myself again, didn't I?

"Are you okay?" the young woman asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah, yeah." I nodded. "Nothing to worry about. Muscle spasm, that's all."

She bought the explanation, fortunately, and moved on with her day. I leaned against the wall of the bakery as soon as she was out of sight.

With all my other souvenirs, I had picked up one more unwanted mark from back home. A long scar across my abdomen, the mark of where a certain homunculus had stabbed me. Even after all this time, it still hurt, crippling me if I ever tried to work too much. It cut my stamina in half and reminded me constantly of the day when I left my home.

I kicked a loose stone, watching it skid across the ground as I headed for the market. So much for a walk. My old wound already wanted me to wrap up my errands and turn in.

Just another day in the life of a pretend amnesiac, I guess.

* * *

When I got back to the inn, I placed the groceries on the counter and immediately set about cleaning the place like Ms. Gracia had asked. She'd left clean sheets on the table for our new guests so I decided to start with there room. Hopefully they wouldn't be back yet and I wouldn't be in the way.

I checked out the two rooms they had rented, dutifully I running through a check list, making sure every necessity was there. The sheets were a bit too small for the beds, but nothing that a little pulling and curse words couldn't fix. I at last wrestled the last corner on, falling with a thud onto my butt from the effort. Another short pang sliced through my chest and I leaned back against the bed, breathing carefully.

 _Damn scar. Can't I even make a bed without you hating me?_

From my place on the floor, my gaze caught and open suitcase on the other side of the room. It was an odd shape and… was it just me or was there an arm inside?

I crawled over to the suitcase, brow furrowed. Sure enough, it was an arm. A fake arm. And it had a fake leg to go with it. Was this guy some kind of doctor?

I hesitantly grabbed one of the prosthetic arms, studying it. It looked like the socket was designed to connect to something. Was it possible that there was automail here too? Or did this stuff work in a different way? I must've looked like an idiot the way I stared blankly at the prosthetic, trying in vain to understand them. I never had actually been able to understand Winry's automail rants, so this stuff didn't make much sense to me either.

I picked up the leg now, turning it in my hand. It was a left leg. And the arm… it was for the right side. My throat tightened and I shook my head, carefully returning the prosthetic limbs to their case. No. I was being stupid.

"I've always been a sucker for nostalga." I murmured to myself, a small smile playing over my face. "Still trying to hold on to those little bits of my old life in Amestris..."

 _"It's only natural,"_ Truth commented.

"Easy for you to say" I said. "It might be natural... but it's also painful."

 _"But would you really want to lose those memories if it meant getting rid of the pain?"_

I thought for a long moment. "No…I just want the pain gone..."

 _"Aw, but that isn't a proper exchange is it little al-chem-ist"_ Truth accentuated each syllable in the word. _"Either give up memories to get rid of the pain or keep them in deal with it. That keeps the balance. That is equivalency._

"Right..." I muttered. "Equivalency sucks."

Truth chuckled.

I sighed and rose to my feet, ready to go back down and help Gracia when I noticed a little pouch sitting on the desk that I hadn't noticed before. I curiously strode over and dumped the contents onto the desk.

It took me a minute to register what clattered onto the desk. A silver watch, the same size and shade as mine. Slowly, with a trembling hand, I lifted the watch. A lion, the lion the Amestris, was engraved on the other side.

This was…

The door swung open and I dropped the watch in surprise.

"Hey!" a voice said. "What are you doing, going through my stuff?"

I didn't answer. My heart was in my throat. Was that… Could it be…

"Did you hear me?" Uneven footsteps, the kind that came from having one fake leg, approached me from across the room. "I said—"

I turned and his voice died on his lips. He stood open mouthed staring at me and I stared right back, my expression mirroring his.

"L-Liz," he whispered. "Please tell me… Is it really you?"

And in that moment, my heart almost floated right out of my chest from sheer joy.

"Edward."

* * *

 _ **A/N: Me? Cliffhangers? In what universe :) If you remember from the last fic, it will take a bit for Envy to show up but at least you have Edward for now!**_

 _ **As always, thank you for your readership and reviews. If you want to read my original stuff, remember my book HOUR OF MISCHIEF is coming out on September 7th. Look it up on Amazon to preorder the ebook, or wait to order the print edition!**_

 _ **Have a lovely week!**_


	3. Chapter 2: Reunion

_**A/N: Happy Tuesday everyone! I'm back, as promised, after my usual cliff hanger. This is a nice chapter and I had fun writing it. Hope you enjoy!**_

 **Chapter 2: Reunion**

For a long time, no one spoke. No one even dared to breathe. I think we were both waiting to wake up from a dream. This was too good to be true. My best friend was here, in the same world as me when I thought I'd never see him again.

Eventually Ed decided words weren't enough and he lunged forward, crushing me in a hug. "Oh my God, you're alive." He practically lifted me off the ground as he spun me around. I laughed, hugging him back.

 _Truth, if this is a dream, I will murder you if you wake me up._

 _Don't worry, little human. It's not._

Ed set me down, a huge grin across his face. I studied him. He looked older now, perhaps owing to the fact he had grown at least half a foot. He wore a long brown jacket rather than his customary red and his hair was pulled back into a pony tail. But it was the same Edward Elric.

"I just… I can't believe it," Ed said. "I really thought you were dead. That I'd never see you again." He looked me up and down. "All this time and you haven't grown an inch."

"Oh _that's_ the first thing you notice, huh pipsqueak?" I smirked.

"Pipsqueak?" Ed crossed his arms. "I'll have you know I am a perfectly normal size now."

I raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't matter. You'll always be short in my heart, Edward."

"What does that even mean?"

"It means give me another hug, idiot." I hugged him again, afraid that if I let go for too long, he would disappear. "How did you even get here, Ed? Where is Al?"

I felt his shoulders sag and he pulled back. "It's complicated."

"I think that can accurately describe most of our lives." I clasped my hands behind my back. "Let's go for a walk. I think we have a lot to talk about."

"You've got that right," Ed said. "Lead the way."

* * *

"After I was stabbed I lost awareness of most things. I remember being at the gate and seeing Al. When I woke up, he was gone and I was back in that room, alone with Rose. Everyone else was gone. And I had my flesh limbs back." Ed sighed. "Al did something—traded something—to get us back. I think that's how you ended up here and I ended up alive again. But I couldn't let him get away with that. I had to pull him back. So I performed a transmutation that threw me back to this world. I assume something happened because I lost my world and alchemy. In return, Al should be alive. At least I hope." He sighed. "Eventually I met up with my old man and here we are today."

"Here we are," I agreed, looking up at the sky. Clouds drifted lazily over the sun, casting shade over the park we were circling. "So it was Dante who killed you? Not Envy?" I couldn't help but feel relieved at that fact.

"No. Envy seemed wholly uninterested in killing me after you died." Edward eyed me and heat rose to my cheeks. I scratched behind my ear.

"Did he? That's interesting."

"Don't pretend you don't know why, Liz," Ed said. "Envy isn't the kind of person to feel bad about killing a human. He turned on Dante after you died. He released Al from the circle and started trying to _kill_ her. I just want to know why. Why would he do that because of you?"

"It's… complicated," I said with a tight smile, sitting down on a nearby bench.

"Like you said, that accurately describes most of our lives." Ed joined me. "Please, Liz. I need to understand."

I stared down at my hands. "I guess you could say… Envy and I had a long, complicated relationship. I first ran into him back in Lior. Only I didn't know it was him. He was disguised and trying to get information. I might have taken him hostage to escape an angry mob. But anyway…" I waved a hand dismissively, as if that was unimportant. "I guess I caught his interest then. I didn't find out who he was until the fifth lab. And I hated him a lot. And I assumed he wasn't fond of me either. He did knock me out a lot." I rubbed a hand over the back of my head as if still feeling the damage.

"Our relationship remained antagonistic for a while after that. Especially after he killed Hughes. I tried to kill him. That's how far he pushed me. And he continued to slam me into walls and almost kill me. He never did, under the guise of following orders. But it wasn't until I met Greed that I realized it might not be that. According to Greed, Envy would have killed most humans for the kind of stuff I pulled, orders or not. Greed seemed to think I had a chance at killing Envy. At that point, I was all too eager to try it out." I bit my lip. "And then I got captured by the homunculi again.

"That's when things really started to change. That's when I started seeing all of them as a lot more human than I intended. Especially Envy. We stopped in a town on the way to their master. The same town owned by a certain band of mercenaries. You know the ones." I picked at my nails. "They recognized me and wanted retribution for those I had killed. I wanted to curl in on myself and disappear. But Envy was there. He kept me grounded, unintentionally so. Gave me back one of my knives so I could scare them off.

"Afterwards, he found out about my little murder spree. It was kind of inevitable. I had to explain what had just happened. But you know the funny thing about him finding out? It didn't bother me. Because he couldn't possibly judge me for what I had done. And when he told me that I couldn't possibly call myself a monster, I believed him, because he knew better than anyone."

"He told you that?" Ed asked quietly.

"Yeah, in his dismissive, slightly condescending way." I ran a hand through my hair. "I got more comfortable around him and stopped trying to openly piss him off. Not that I didn't still. In fact the last night of the hostage situation we got into quite the argument. Which ended… kind of oddly for one of our arguments."

"What do you mean?" Ed asked.

"Well…" I tried in vain to will the heat away from my face. "He kissed me."

Ed did not say a word. He stared at me for a very long time. I could practically see his brain shutting down from sheer confusion. "He what?"

"Yep. That was a thing… that happened." I shifted uncomfortably. "And then he apologized. Which was… also weird. Then he left. And Lust came in later and let me go. Apparently she had suspected something like this would happen. She didn't want Envy to do anything stupid. I wanted to get away from him for a while because I was _really_ confused. So I found you guys in Ishval.

"He kidnapped me for the last time while we were on the run and I promised to go with him if he explained to me what the hell was up with that kiss. He agreed. So I went with him. And I did find out. I don't want to get into it, but part of his interest in me came from the fact that I reminded him of this other girl from a long time ago. She died trying to stop a fight between Envy and Greed. More specifically, Envy accidentally killed her." I glanced up at Ed. "You can see where I got my inspiration for my death."

"And that's why he looked so horrified." Ed said. He leaned forward, rubbing a hand over his face. "Damn, Liz. You really were in deep. And once again, you were keeping secrets from Al and me."

"Ah… yeah I was keeping secrets from _you_." I said, rubbing a hand behind my head.

Ed stared at me. "Wait, Al knew?"

"Yes. I, uh, told him not to tell you." I smiled sheepishly. "I mean, can you blame me Ed? It's weird. It's really, really weird and the only reason I told Al is because he guilt tripped me with his cuteness."

"It is weird." Ed agreed. "I had no idea. I thought you hated him."

"I did. Didn't you hear me? I really, really hated him." I shrugged. "And then things changed. I thought he was just killing people for the hell of it. Turns out most of the reason he stayed with Dante is because he thought it would give him a chance to kill Hoenhiem. Revenge, you know? It's a motivation I can understand." I leaned forward. "I don't think he ever really hated me. Not as much as he could have. And now…"

"Now you don't hate him either." Ed finished with a sigh. "I still can't believe he was my half-brother once."

"I never got the chance to tell you that one," I said. "And I don't think it would have stopped the fight. It seemed inevitable."

"You've got that right," Ed said. "Envy really wanted to kill me didn't he?"

"He lost his chance at killing Hoenhiem." I muttered. "You were the product of Hoenhiem's new life. Of course he wanted to kill you. He was jealous of you." I picked absently at my sleeve. "He had more reason to hate Hoenhiem then anyone else. When he didn't get to kill Hoenhiem, you were the next reasonable target."

"I can understand, I guess," Ed murmured. "But I still hate him. For killing Hughes, and for killing you and causing this whole screw up with the gate. We're stuck here because of him."

"Ed, I'm the one who jumped in front of you." I protested. "That was me. It wasn't your fault, Envy's fault, it wasn't even Dante's fault. That was my choice. Mine alone. I acted on it. You should blame me for this whole screw up."

"If he had listened—hell if either of us had listened when you told us to stop—you wouldn't have jumped in the way." Edward pointed out. "Liz... I thought you were dead. I almost lost you. You're my friend. And no matter who you blame, he did kill you. And a lot of other people." He stood. "That's my thoughts on the matter."

I stared at my hands "I know. I'd never expect you to forgive him." They had repelling personalities after all. They were very different.

" _Are they?_ Truth mused. _Al and Ed are different sure. Complete opposites. But they get along. Perhaps the problem with Ed and Envy is they are too similar."_

 _"Thank you fortune cookie,"_ I thought. _"But I didn't ask for your opinion."_

I rose to my feet. "Come on. Let's head back to the inn. Gracia's let me stay there ever since I came to this stupid place. Faking amnesia gets me sympathy points."

"I'll try not to blow your cover." Edward grinned. "I'm glad you told me Liz… About everything. Thank you."

I shrugged. "Had to come out some time."

 _"You didn't tell him about me little human,"_ Truth cooed.

 _"Who would want to hear about you?"_ I countered moodily.

True, I hadn't told Edward about the annoying voice in my head or about the fact that my old wound still gave me so much trouble. I wasn't even sure why I hadn't told him. It's not like I'd lied on purpose... I just omitted.

In the end, I would always have a secret to keep.

"Ed," I murmured as we walked down the street. "What… what do you think happened to Envy?"

"I don't know," Ed admitted. "I remember seeing him at the gate right before I saw Al. I think he tried to go through to find Hoenhiem. But I have no idea what happened to him."

"Right." I looked down. I shouldn't dwell on it. This morning I thought I'd never see any of my old friends again. Now I had Ed. I should be grateful for that much.

In all likelihood, I'd never see Envy again.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Yep. I'm suurre Envy's gone forever ;) Don't worry he'll come in eventually though it will take a bit. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! have a great week!**_


	4. Chapter 3: Human

_**A/N: Happy Tuesday everyone. Today's chapter brings more character development and also Hoenhiem! No Envy yet, of course. Give it a few more chapters, he'll be here soon :) I made a fair amount of edits to this chapter though nothing plot changing. Hope you enjoy!**_

 **Chapter 3: Human**

The sun was already dipping low in in the sky when Ed and I began our walk back. By the time I spotted Gracia's inn on the other side of the street, night had fallen oppressively over the tiny German town. Gracia would be worried about me by now. It wasn't wise to wander the streets late at night these days.

Especially if you're me, if you know what I mean.

But tonight, it seemed the dark streets had found another unfortunate victim. The wailing echoed from all the way down the road. Flashlights sliced through the dark and I heard Officer Hughes voice.

"What happened here?"

"Murder. Murder! Oh God, _why_?"

Ed and I glanced at each other and hurried toward the screams without a second thought. An old woman knelt on the street, cradling the body of a young woman in her arms. Her throat had been sliced and her chest stabbed several times for good measure. There was blood everywhere.

My vision swam as I knelt down next to the older woman.

"Which way did he go?" I asked, resting a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Did you see?"

She looked up at me through tears and icy anger settled in my heart for the man who did this. "Into… the alley way I think. I didn't get a good look at him. Oh God, my daughter she—"

"That's fine. I can find him." I looked at Hughes. "I've got this. Take care of her."

Then I took off, Ed following close behind me.

"Liz, wait! Isn't this police work?"

"I kind of help the police around here," I said flatly. "And we can't let him get too far." I ducked into the nearest alleyway and started weaving as fast as I could. Likely he would be moving in a similar zig zag pattern to throw off the trail. Going in circles and doubling back to confuse police.

Unlucky for him, I had an odd, magnetic attraction to murderers in alleyways.

I nearly ran right into him. He barely threw himself aside to avoid me and found himself standing in between Edward and me. His hand clutched at his knife. He hadn't done a very good job of cleaning the blood away.

"It's not wise to wander all alone at night." The man whispered in a raspy voice said.

"I could say the same for you," I said tightly.

He eyed me, smirking. "But I'm not a pretty little girl, am I?"

Edward took a step forward but I held up a hand. I could handle this. I mean, he was bigger than me but most people were.

"I don't know. You could have fooled me."

The man's smirk twisted into a frown and he lunged at me. I parried his knife with one of my own. The clash rang through the alleyway.

"Knives are sort of my thing. I wouldn't go pulling one on me," I growled, kicking out. The man stumbled back. "I didn't come here to chat with you. I came to retrieve you for Officer Hughes so you can go to prison for the rest of your natural life."

"She deserved it," the man said. "She was always playing with me. Always fooling. She deserved it."

My grip tightened on my knife. "She deserved nothing from a piece of dirt like you."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere, pretty girl. Not to the police anyway." the man drew a gun from his pocket. The moment he pointed it at me, I'd kick it out of his hand. "And you're not going to chase me. You'll be too preoccupied with your boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Ed asked incredulously—just before the man turned the gun on him.

My knife left my hand so fast I almost wasn't aware of it. It soared straight and true, spearing the man through the back of the head. He shuddered, his gun toppling from his hand.

Ed drew in a sharp breath. I stayed absolutely still as I watched the man fall. But no sooner had he hit the ground, a sudden pain coursed through my torso. I dropped to my knees, clenching my fists and gritting my teeth in pain as an anguished cry managed to slip from my throat before I could stop it. The pain slowly intensified and I keeled over onto the ground, my vision becoming blurry.

"Liz!" Ed cried out. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Ed's worried face and a flashlight shining in my eyes.

* * *

When I woke up I was lying in my bed back at the inn. My abdomen still throbbed painfully. I hadn't had an attack like that in a long time. Of course it had to happen in plain view of Edward. I expected another wave of questions from him now.

Slowly I turned my head to the side to see Ed standing at the door next to tall silhouette of his father, Van Hoenhiem. They spoke in hushed voices, though Ed was clearly tense and worried. After a long moment, Hoenhiem placed a hand on his shoulder. Then he left him standing in the doorway.

Ed turned back to look at me and relief washed over his face. "Liz... Are you ok?"

"Fine," I muttered. "I'm used to it." With great effort I tried to force myself into a sitting position but Ed stopped me.

"Just rest Liz," he murmured. "It's fine."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Officer Hughes came right after you passed out and we brought you back here" Ed explained. "You've… been out for a few hours."

"Sounds about right" I rubbed a hand over my chest.

Ed studied me. "You get these alot?"

"Yeah, they suck." I nodded. "They happen every time I push myself too much. Too much adrenalin, too much stress, or too much exertion. It's one of the prices I paid for living."

"That's not the only thing" Ed said quietly. "Liz... what happened back there? You… you killed that man. Just like that."

I turned away, letting my hair fall in front of my face. "He tried to kill you."

"That's not the point Liz!" Ed gripped my shoulder, shaking me slightly. "You never used to kill. Even when I was in danger. No matter what, you never could bring yourself to kill. Even when it was an accident it tore you up. So what changed?"

I winced as my chest spasmed again and Ed let go of me, stepping back. "S-sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you..."

"Its fine. I'm not that fragile." I looked up at him. "I know I used to take this moral high ground on killing. And you're right, I was afraid to lose myself and become a monster again. But I'm not a monster. I know that." I bit my lip. "And I couldn't risk losing you. I just got you back Ed. And I've been alone here for so long. I will never lose someone I love when I can stop it. Not again. Even if that means killing."

"I know" Ed sighed. "I know Liz... it just threw me off. It worried me, you know? I've never seen you do that."

"Sorry," I murmured. "I haven't really been myself since I came here." I swallowed hard. "But it hasn't been so bad, you know? There's, uh, alot of nice people here and I've been getting along just fine. I mean everyone's been really nice to me. Probably because of the amnesia thing but they've been great."

"Idiot," Ed muttered. Before I knew what was happening, he had pulled me into a hug. "You don't have to be so strong you know... it's been hard for you hasn't it?"

I froze for a second before letting out a shaky breath "Y-yeah... it has been..." I felt my vision blur and I closed my eyes letting a few tears slip down my cheeks. "...hard."

An understatement to say the least. Hard barely covered it.

No words really could.

* * *

Later that night when the pain had subsided I decided to creep downstairs to scrounge up some food. In the excitement of finding Edward today, I hadn't eaten much. The passing out hadn't helped.

Yawning, I flicked on the kitchen lights and began to rummage through the cabinets for some left over porridge.

"Glad to see you up and about."

I whirled at Hoenhiem's voice, banging my head on the cabinet in the process. "Ow," I muttered, pressing a hand to my forehead. "You startled me, old man. What are you doing down here so late?"

He smiled "Yes, sorry... I'm having a little trouble sleeping. As are you, apparently."

"Yeah, apparently," I said. "Side effect of being stabbed and hurled across the gate, I guess."

"I'd say we're the lucky ones," Hoenhiem said. "Considering we made it here in mostly one piece."

"Yeah, how did you make it here?" I asked. "You were in Risenbol the last time I saw you. What happened?"

"I tried to confront Dante and she bested me, sending me through the gate. I don't think she meant for me to survive the trip. Yet, here I am. She always had a habit of underestimating me. Or overestimating herself."

"Yeah, makes you wonder why you were ever with her," I said without thinking. Then I froze. "Uh… I mean…"

"It's alright, Elizabeth. It's a fair question," Hoenhiem said. "I was foolish and power hungry in my younger years. I didn't understand a lot of things and I made a lot of mistakes."

"Right. Mistakes." I turned back toward the cabinets, avoiding his gaze. "Hoenhiem... I wanted to ask you about your son."

"Edward or Alphonse?" Hoenhiem asked.

"Not them." I gripped the edge of the counter. "Your other son."

There was a long silence from behind me before Hoenhiem sighed. "You mean William."

"Huh?" I turned to look at him.

"His original name... Before I turned him into what he is now," Hoenhiem explained softly.

"Oh," That made sense. Back when I first met Envy in Lior he'd used William as his cover name. Perhaps as an inside joke to only himself. "Yeah, him." I took a deep breath. "It's just… after you turned him into a homunculus, why did you leave?"

"As I said, I made a lot of mistakes in my life. Some of my mistakes led to my son's death. Some led to me bringing him back. And still more led to me abandoning him." Hoenhiem smiled sadly. "I was selfish and I wanted to get away from Dante but it was more than that. I couldn't bear the guilt of turning my son into a monster, so I left."

"Monster," I echoed. "That's what you believe he is?"

"I took away his soul and his humanity." Hoenhiem said. "When I left him alone with Dante, I made matters worse. She made him bitter toward me and eventually encouraged him to hate all humans. So he distanced himself from them as much as possible. Tried to become more. In the process, he did become a monster of sorts."

"You're wrong," I said. "He might have some monstrous characteristics, but he's still very human." I sat down across from Hoenhiem. "Homunculi are born without souls but they retain their memories of their human lives. They retain human characteristics too. The stones help suppress those human instincts, but the very fact that they have to be suppressed proves they're there." I held Hoenhiem's gaze. "So no. Envy is not a monster."

Hoenhiem flinched slightly when I said the name. This time he looked away. "Edward told me about the circumstances of your death, Elizabeth. I find it incredible that Envy turned on Dante after so many years of serving her."

"He wasn't serving her out of loyalty. He just wanted a chance to kill you some day," I said before I could stop myself.

Hoenhiem looked up at me. "Who told you that?"

"He did. He told me a lot of things."

"Hmm..." Hoenhiem absently stroked his beard. "You asked me once if a homunculus could be good. I still think that they are at a disadvantage. They are easily molded when they are born. Dante molded them poorly." He observed me. "But, perhaps, when faced with the right person, the opposite occurs. I suppose you were that person for my son. And I thank you for it."

I flushed. "Uh, no problem." I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "You know it's odd. Everyone else refuses to believe that their loved ones and the homunculus created trying to bring them back are the same. But you still call him your son."

"A matter of perspective I suppose," he mused. Unspoken words stirred deep in his eyes but I decided not to press for them.

"If you don't mind me asking... what was he like as a human?" I asked.

Hoenhiem smiled "Smart, bold, a bit rebellious. Actually, he was quite similar to Edward. He may have been a very gifted alchemist if he hadn't died when he was eighteen."

"How?" I dared to ask.

"Mercury poisoning." he sighed. "It was a common ingredient in my experiments. He was exposed to the fumes and he became sick. Within a month the toxin took him, no matter what I did to stop it."

"I'm sorry." I stood slowly from my chair. I had meant to eat something but our conversation had chased away my appetite and replaced it with new, racing thoughts. "Thanks for telling me. I think I'll try to get some rest." I paused. "You should try for some sleep too. Don't want that room to go to waste."

"I'll try. Thank you, Elizabeth."

I nodded and headed for the stairs. As I reached the bottom step, I saw a shadow flash through the upstairs hallway. Moments later, a door clicked closed.

If Edward had heard any of our conversation, he never let on the next day. And I didn't ask him. He deserved to keep his secrets.

I kept enough of my own, after all.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Yaaay character development. Always fun.**_

 _ **In other news HOUR OF MISCHIEF is now available for preorder in PAPERBACK. Which means if you prefer your books in hard copy, like I do, you can now preorder on Amazon. Just type in HOUR OF MISCHIEF and it should come up!**_

 _ **Thanks as always for your loyal readership!**_


	5. Chapter 4: The Fortune Teller

_**A/N: New chapter! Sorry its a day late but my profile was being wonky yesterday and I couldn't access it. But I hope you enjoy! I did some changing by combining chapters and cutting out some stuff, namely the flashback that Liz couldn't be in with the new timeline. So that is gone. But most everything else is in tact. Enjoy!**_

 **Chapter 4: The Fortune Teller**

Time passes quicker during happy times. A fact I became keenly aware of when I was reunited with Edward. The first year of my imprisonment in the alchemy free alternate dimension of Germany dragged on and on. The next two years after Ed and I met up again breezed by. Tension continued to mount in Europe. Prices spiked in the market. Hoenhiem, after one year, disappeared again, leaving only a note behind in one of his books.

 _In case you ever need it... I, Vol 4, Sec 2._

The explanation left something to be desired, but Edward and I adjusted as we did to everything in this world. Not that we didn't miss our old lives. We still often found ourselves wishing for our friends and our alchemy and our adventures. But at least we had each other.

And our stories.

Edward and I took turns telling stories to our new friends. They took them as fiction even if we insisted they were factual. Alphonse Heidrich, Al's look alike in this world, was one of those friends. As a rocket scientist, the idea of alchemy was too bizarre for him to take seriously. But at least he got a laugh out of our stories.

"And that's how the hero of the people became known all throughout Amestris." Ed finished the tale of one of his adventures before Mustang partnered us together.

"I'm telling you Ed, you and Liz should right stories or something." Al chuckled. "They'd sell well."

"Especially the ones involving me," I said, leaning back in the back seat of the car. "Since I'm clearly the most interesting character."

"The Lior story is one of my favorites," Al said. "Especially the part where you accidentally started a cult."

I laughed nervously, scratching behind my ear. "Yeah… that was… hilarious."

"They aren't just stories," Ed said. "It all really happened. Do you think we could make this up?"

"People make stories up all the time. That's why we have so many writers and artists in the world," Al said. "Besides, a world where alchemy moves ahead of technology? It wouldn't happen. Modern science is letting us expand in new ways than ever before, progressing than we ever could with alchemy."

"In this world you mean" Ed argued, adjusting his grip on the wheel. "I'm telling you that—"

"Ed! Eyes on the road!" I exclaimed as Ed swerved off at a sharp turn. We ended up careening straight into a ditch.

"Well done, pipsqueak," I muttered, leaping out of the smoking car and brushing myself off. "Now how are we going to get to the carnival?"

"Shut up shrimp!" He glared at me. "Why weren't you watching for ditches?"

"That's your job. As the driver. I watch for pursuers."

"Why would we have pursuers?"

"I'm just used to people chasing us. Old habits."

"Don't fight guys another car looks like its coming" Al said, ever the peacemaker, even in this world.

"Hey!" Ed waved his arms at the incoming vehicle, stepping toward the road. "Hey over here!"

"We're lucky someone is coming," I observed. "We could get stranded for hours on these roads."

"Yeah," Al said. "We—" He cut off suddenly, coughing violently into his hand.

I cocked my head to the side. "You okay, Al? You've been coughing like that a lot lately."

"Just a little cold Liz, I'm fine." He forced a smile.

Right. And my attacks are hunger pangs.

Edward succeeded in waving the vehicle down. A truck with a wooden cart on the back rolled up in front of us. The back was filled with several brown skinned women in colorful clothes. Gypsies.

"Heading to the carnival?" the driver asked.

"Sure are" Ed nodded.

"Hop in," the man offered. "If you don't mind riding with gypsies, we're on our way there too."

We took the offer since we had no other options and Edward and I hadn't learned this world's racial prejudices yet. They featured in every dimension I guess. In Amestris it was Ishvalans and in Germany, Jews and Gypsies. I found the hatred all very exhausting.

"So uh... what kinds of things do you guys do at the carnival?" Ed asked.

"Lots of things" a woman leaned in close, making Ed blush. "Singing, dancing."

Al glanced over noticing a much quieter gypsy sitting in the corner "What about you? What's your act?"

"She's a fortune teller" Another woman grinned. "And she always gets it right."

I raised my eyebrows. "Does she now?" I doubted it, personally.

"Can you read mine?" Al asked.

"Ah come one" Ed sighed. "You doubt alchemy but not this? You know how unscientific fortune telling is!"

The girl placed a hand on his shoulder and he stilled, looking back at her. After a short pause, her brown eyes widened and she drew back.

"You're like us... you have no home."

I drew in a sharp breath and Ed shot me a look. How the Hell did she know that? It was actually a little bit scary that someone could guess that from a touch. Unless of course it was just a lucky guess.

"There it is! The carnival!" one of the other gypsies called.

I looked ahead of us, spying colorful flags flapping in the distance. The first Gypsy woman drew back her hood and began singing, a soothing foreign melody and the others began to join in, clapping, tapping on their knees, harmonizing. The only one who didn't join in was the fortune teller.

Her brown eyes never left Ed as he stared solemnly ahead, deep in thought. Al looked concerned as well, peering between her and Ed in silence. I scooted over next to Ed and nudged him gently with my elbow.

"Hey, you ok?" I asked in a hushed voice.

He smiled bitterly "No. You?"

"Never." I glanced back at the Gypsy woman who quickly averted her gaze. Who knew? Maybe she did have a different way of seeing things.

* * *

Much later, after helping Al and his coworkers set up for their rocket demonstration, Ed and I had decided to go back and wait by the truck. We had seen the demonstration a million times anyway. Plus Ed and I didn't feel too great after the little reminder of our homelessness.

It was true, I considered myself homeless in this world. I stayed with Gracia, Ed and Al, but my home was back in Amestris. Funny enough, we didn't have much of a home there either with how much we traveled around. But the Rockbell's house was home. They were our family and they waited for us through thick and thin. Even though I wasn't part of their family, they still welcomed me with open arms.

Ed and Al, of course, were my family too. Ed and I used to hate each other, but slowly but surely, with all the philosopher's stone crap, we grew closer. We started working together. We barely realized it was happening until it was too late and we were already best friends. He was a slightly annoying twin brother to me, and Al the innocent, but responsible adviser.

I missed Al a lot. And Winry.

I missed Envy too though I wouldn't admit it. I didn't know if he was even alive. If he was, I hoped he had stopped tearing himself apart about my death.

"Thinking about home too?" I jerked out of my thoughts to see Ed smiling sadly at me.

A small smile crept onto my own face "Yeah..."

"Do you sometimes wish you could forget?" Ed asked, flexing the fingers of his fake arm. "So that the pain could go away?"

 _"Hmm... I remember once asking you the same question"_ Truth mused.

Oh right. He's still in my head. Unfortunately.

"No..." I murmured. "I wish I could just have the pain be gone, but that isn't equivalence. Give up the memories with the pain or keep them and deal with it. That's how it works. My memories have shaped me. I could never give up all the good parts of those years..."

"You're remarkably insightful today." Ed commented.

 _"No, you're stealing my words"_ Truth quipped.

" _Shut it. You can't exactly claim the rights in my head."_ I thought.

Something thumped suddenly against the cart and we looked up to see someone climbing under the tarp with one of the rockets under it.

"Hey, you might not want to go digging around in there," Ed said wryly. "That rocket is set to launch."

The intruder lifted the tarp a bit, revealing the fortune teller from earlier. Her eyes were wide and her forehead beaded with sweat as if she'd just been running her heart out.

"Is someone chasing you?" I asked.

"There she is!" a man's voice called in response. Three guys swarmed the cart and pulled the tarp away. The gypsy threw up her arm to shield herself but one of the men grabbed her arm and tried to pull her with him. "Come here girl!"

"Hey what are you doing?" Ed snapped.

"This woman has a contract with us!" the man at the lead growled.

"Really? And did she agree to said contract?" I asked.

"Help me!" the girl pleaded. A definite no.

Ed hurried to the girl's aid, pushing the men away. "Leave her alone. This is a carnival. Go have some fun!"

"I don't think you heard me right," the man said, drawing a gun from his belt. "We bought this gypsy fair and square!"

"Bought?" My eyes narrowed. "That's it. You don't buy a person. Period."

"You asked for it." Ed raised his hands and clapped them together. After a few moment of awkward pause he looked back up at the confused men with a mischievous grin. "Sorry, just an old habit of mine."

Then he charged the man at the lead in attempt to wrestle the gun away from him while I leapt from the cart, planting my foot between the eyes of the second goon. He toppled to the ground as another thug came at me. I ducked low under his arm and hurled all of my body weight into his legs sending him toppling over and landing ungracefully on his face.

Edward had meanwhile knocked down his opponent with the help of his stronger prosthetic arm, but the other lackeys were swiftly starting to recover. Ed jumped up onto the cart beside the car and tilted the rocket toward the men. "You might want to run."

"Oh boy." I sighed, ducking behind the cart and plugging my ears.

A rocket explosion and several unconscious men later we were running from the carnival with the gypsy girl in tow.

"Where's your home?" Ed asked as we ran.

"I told you, I don't have one," she murmured.

"Well I guess there's only one obvious solution then." I said cheerfully.

* * *

We took the fortune teller—who called herself Noah—back to Gracia's where she found some clothes for her and put her in a spare room. Noah repeatedly thanked us for saving her from the goons at the carnival long after we told her that it was no problem and not to worry about it. Al was accepting too, welcoming her to stay with us.

I was glad that we could help her and also glad to spend more time with her. Her fortune telling had been scarily accurate. And even as a scientist, I found myself curious.

That evening, I knocked lightly on the door to her room. Her voice called softly from inside. "Come in."

I opened the door with a smile "Uh... hi."

"Hello." She returned the smile, straightening. "Liz is your name right?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Are you settling in alright? The room is good?"

"Yes, everything is fine, really." Noah said. "You've done enough for me already. I'd repay you if I could."

"Like I said, its not a big deal," I said. "But… can I ask you something?"

"Of course." She nodded.

"The fortune telling thing." I fidgeted with the chain of my watch. "What do you see when you touch me?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I thought you an Edward believed it was unscientific?"

"Well..." I shrugged sheepishly. "I'm a curious person. Do you mind?"

She shook her head and gestured for me to join her where she sat on her bed. She took my hand and seemed to stare off into space for several moments before she spoke. "You and Edward come from the same place. You want to go back there even though it's dangerous. Because it's your home. And you like danger." She let go of my hands. "And I saw a suit of armor..."

"Wow." I stared. "You really hit it right on the dot. That's really cool."

She laughed slightly "Was that all you wanted Liz?"

"Uh, yeah" I grinned awkwardly. "Thanks." I stood and started toward the door before Noah's voice stopped me again.

"Liz, there was one other thing too. There was a boy with long dark hair. Who is he?" she asked quietly.

I froze and stared at the ground for a second, my fists clenched. "He's..." I sighed and closed my eyes. "Just someone I used to know."

"Is he dead?" she murmured.

I let a small smile creep over my face "I'm not quite sure...I hope not..."

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to bring back painful memories." Noah apologized quickly.

I raised an eyebrow. "Hey, don't worry about it Noah. Your gift is awesome." I looked away. "Trust me, they'd be painful without a reminder." My hand subconsciously reached up to touch my scar, the physical embodiment of all the pain said memories really did bring. "Thanks for the reading Noah." I hurried from the room.

"What's up with you?" Ed asked when I slumped down the stairs.

"Nothing" I smiled. "Just got Noah to read my fortune."

"Oh," he murmured, needing no further clarification.

We often understood each other with no words at all these days. Like a wave length of depression, or something.

Yeah, that sounded about right.

* * *

 _ **A/N: I think that Envy might be in the next chapter. Though don't quote me on that. We'll see.**_

 ** _Hope you enjoyed and don't forget to preorder HOUR OF MISCHIEF! It comes out this coming Monday which is super exciting!_**

 ** _Have a great week :)_**


	6. Chapter 5: Scars of the Past

_**A/N: Hey everyone! One day late, I know, but this chapter was annoying me as I was editing it. I like this chapter a lot and I wanted to make it good. Don't know if I succeeded but I tried!**_

 _ **Also important to note that HOUR OF MISCHIEF is FINALLY out! It came out on Monday and I'm super excited! Thanks for all the support so far. Feel free to order a copy if you haven't yet. Or just enjoy this fanfiction for now!**_

 **Chapter 5: Scars of the Past**

"Are you really sure it's all right that I stay here?" Noah asked Al and I when we were sitting at breakfast the next morning.

"Yes, Noah, its fine," I said pointedly. "You can stop asking that. Really. We're not going to change our minds."

"Yeah, those people are still looking for you right?" Al reasoned. "This is the only option." He smiled. "Besides I'm glad, this is the first time Ed's ever been interested in a girl."

I resisted the urge to insist this _wasn't_ the first time Ed was interested in a girl. He was interested in Winry and the two were completely meant to be together. But unfortunately, on the other side of the gate, a relationship would be difficult.

"I'm not saying Ed is anti-social or anything... he just never gets attached to anyone." Al continued.

"What about Liz?" Noah questioned. "He seems close to her."

"Well not like that." I blanched. "He's like my brother so we could never get close like that. We don't need to." I looked at Al and grinned. "And yeah, Ed is kind of anti-social. You don't have to try to cover for him. It's kind of a defense mechanism."

"Right." Al smiled and pushed his plate away before hefting his bag over his shoulder and starting toward the door. "I'm going now! Let Ed know when he wakes up." He beamed. "I can't believe we have our own factory now."

"What about you?" Noah asked quietly. "Do you keep yourself detached as well?"

"Kind of" I smiled sheepishly. "Old habit... the closer I get to a person, the more likely they are to get hurt..." I stared out the window. "And I've lost enough people I love to last a life time."

* * *

The man wandered through the crowds at a lazy pace, a disinterested scowl painted across his face as he watched the humans go about their day. This was an annoying town, like most of them. Humans everywhere and he was camouflaged as one of them. It was laughable.

Of course back in Amestris, he had camouflaged himself plenty of times but this world was different. Alchemy no longer existed. His old master wasn't here. The man had no reason to hide among humans. No goal.

Well, he had one goal, but after two years at had become seemingly hopeless. This world was large and Hoenhiem of light could be anywhere. Yet the resentment remained, ever burning in his chest.

He hated having to walk around in this body. The other three alternatives were worse, or at least would never suit this world. But his current disguise was a constant reminder of _him_. His so called father.

He heard a voice suddenly, one that he picked up from all the others in the crowd.

"Come on, we'll avoid that crowd."

The man lifted his head and peered with gold eyes at a familiar blonde boy walking through the crowd, pulling another girl with dark skin and hair behind him. He was taller, his hair was in a different style, his clothes were different but there was no mistaking him.

"Well little brother. Fancy seeing you here." Envy murmured. A smirk drew across his face.

This would be fun.

* * *

Edward should have known there would be trouble when he took it upon himself to show Noah around town. The people in Germany had plenty of harsh words for Gypsies and it didn't take long before they started lobbing them at Noah.

"Watch yourself or she'll rob you blind!"

"Dirty gypsies don't belong here."

"Yeah, get her out of town!"

"Come on, we'll avoid that crowd." Ed told Noah, guiding her along to a less crowded street.

"I'm fine Edward, I'm use to the words," Noah murmured with a slight smile. "Ed, why didn't Liz come with us today?"

"She can't over exert herself too much. Some days are worse than others," Ed said. "She'll be fine though. She's tough."

"You worry about her," Noah said. It was a statement, not a question.

"Every damn day" Ed sighed. "Come on. I'll show you the—"

"Edward Elric."

Ed whirled at the voice behind him. A few yards away stood a tall man with shoulder length blonde hair and gold eyes, accompanied by an achingly familiar smirk. He had seen that face before... where had he seen that face before? "How exactly do you know my name?"

The man laughed. "I'm surprised you forgot about me so quickly... little brother."

The two words made Ed's blood run cold and his eyes widened for a moment in shock before narrowing. "Envy. You crossed the gate."

"Your deductive skills amaze me" Envy sneered.

"Edward?" Noah stared between the two men with a mixture of confusion and fear.

"Noah." Ed said through gritted teeth. "Go back to the inn."

"But—"

"Now," Ed said tightly. "I'll handle this."

Noah took a step back, then hurried off. Good. Edward didn't want her to get caught up in this.

"Was that your girlfriend?" Envy smirked.

"Can it!" Ed snapped. "More importantly what are you doing here? And why do you look like that!" Ed demanded.

"Think about it this way, pipsqueak" Envy said, enjoying how Ed twitched at the long unused nickname. "Can you do alchemy?"

"No." Ed muttered.

"So how flexible exactly do you think my shape shifting is?" Envy raised an eyebrow.

"You're stuck in that form." he realized.

"Not quite, but you're on the right track," Envy said. "I was in four different forms while I was in the gate. This is one of them, another was my usual form, the third was you and the fourth..." he smirked. "Well that's not too important."

"So then why this form?" Ed demanded. "I thought you hated it. It's the reason you hid it so long."

"You may have noticed anyone remotely different attracts unnecessary attention in this world," Envy pointed out, his lazy smirk never wavering. "This rules out my preferred form and why on earth would I go around looking like you? This form was the only option."

The form didn't matter much. No matter what face Envy wore, it still looked like him. Maybe the smirk always stayed the same. Or maybe just the same glint of hate in his eyes. Or his unfailing ability to piss Edward off

"So now what?" Ed's eyes narrowed, his fists clenching.

Envy's eyes flashed "You wouldn't happen to know where our father is, would you pipsqueak?"

It still surprised Edward how much hate Envy could put into one word. It also surprised him how much he hated this new form of Envy's. The young man standing in front of him looked like Hoenhiem. Looked like him. But this was not his brother. This was only mockery of him.

"Even if I wanted to tell you, I couldn't," Ed said at last. "He disappeared a year ago."

"Just like him," Envy mused before looking back to Ed with a malicious grin. "Well, I guess this conversation is over." Then he lunged.

Ed gasped as Envy sunk his fist into his stomach, knocking the wind right out of him. He doubled over and fell to his hands and knees, gasping for air, pain making his vision fuzzy. Envy was still strong as hell even in this world.

"That was pathetic" Envy sneered, circling around him and seizing Ed's pony tail, yanking his head back. "You've gotten a little sloppy haven't you little brother?"

Ed curled his right hand into a fist "Don't. Call me. That." He managed to cuff Envy across the cheek, and the homunculus to stumble back, releasing him. Ed rose back to his feet, knees bent in anticipation of the oncoming fight. "I'm not your brother!"

"Huh, hate to break it to you pipsqueak but you are." Envy's smirked, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.

"You really want to push your luck Envy." Ed growled. "If you can't shift any more then you can't regenerate. And that means you're not immortal anymore!" He lunged at the homunculus again, his fist cocked behind his head.

"Maybe not but..." Envy side stepped and twisted to the side as Ed shot past him. "I'm still stronger than you!" He caught the younger boy in the back with a smooth round house kick. Ed rolled forward to break the fall and was up again in an instant.

Envy smirked at the still determined look in Ed's eyes "You think you have a chance? I've had four hundred years of practice pipsqueak."

"And I had the best teacher in the world." Ed snapped back.

"Yeah? You ever beat her?" Envy countered snidely.

Ed flinched—an obvious no—and Envy cackled.

"Yeah, I didn't think so." He grinned. "But if you really think you can beat me, then go ahead and try your luck." He leaned forward. "Quit stalling, _little brother_."

That was all the encouragement Ed needed to attack.

* * *

I sat in my room, lying on my bed in silence, staring blankly up at the ceiling. On days like these, I tried to expend as little energy as possible. Sometimes my scar was just more temperamental. It was too bad though since the ceiling wasn't very entertaining. Maybe I should get a book.

Or just sleep.

 _"Come on little human,"_ Truth coaxed. _"You should get up."_

"I don't want to..." I sighed.

 _"So lazy"_ Truth chided. _"You should do something..."_

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm kind of crippled."

" _Still, I think there are more interesting things to do today."_

"Your point has merit but as usual I'm going to ignore you."

The front door slammed open. "LIZ! Are you there?" Noah called up. "Come quickly!"

 _"Oh yes, things are about to get very interesting"_ Truth giggled gleefully.

"I'm up here, Noah," I said, sitting up.

"Liz, thank goodness." Noah appeared in the doorway, panting. "Its Edward."

"What's wrong?" I looked around. "Where is Ed?"

"That's just it. We ran into someone in the street, trying to avoid the crowds," she explained. "And Ed... he got really angry. It looked they were about to start fighting."

"What? Someone call him short?" I asked quizzically.

"He isn't short" Noah cocked her head to the side. "And no, that wasn't it. I think they knew each other."

"Huh, getting into fights is something Ed has never," I paused, "really avoided. But he doesn't know many people in this place."

"He knew this man," Noah said. "Please Liz, we have to help."

"Okay, I'm coming." I rose to my feet and grabbed my knives. "You remember the way?"

She nodded. "Hurry!"

I followed Noah down the streets, ignoring the shouts of "The gypsy is runnin! Probably stole a wallet! Parasites!" When she skidded to a stop I saw that a small crowd had formed, watching some sort of fight. I could hear Edward's voice somewhere within.

"Oh this doesn't look good." I muttered dashing for the crowd.

* * *

Despite the fact that Envy didn't have endless energy anymore, Ed couldn't keep up with him and the homunculus knew it. He was just toying with him, dodging every attack he threw gracefully before coming back with a hard blow. He wasn't trying.

Ed was still able to dodge the majority of the hits but the ones that landed hurt like hell. His lip was bleeding and he was already bruising up. He wasn't going to last much longer. To make things worse a crowd had gathered to watch. They didn't help. They just looked on. And why wouldn't they? Brawls were common. A form of entertainment for some people.

Envy lunged again and Ed took a wrong step. He knew the move would cost him the fight as soon as he took it. With lightning speed Envy swiped his feet out from under him. As he fell he felt a hand wrap firmly around his neck and slam him against the ground. Stars flashed across his vision and seconds later he found himself staring up at a very triumphant Envy.

The hand tightened around his neck and breathing became suddenly much more difficult. Ed gripped at Envy's wrist, trying to free himself, but the vicelike grip remained. Envy's eyes glinted with familiar malice.

"This is the part where you give me one good reason not to kill you, little brother" Envy hissed. The hand tightened a little bit more around Ed's neck. "And I most likely don't listen."

"...Liz," Ed managed to choke out.

Envy's eyes flashed and for a moment as he stared blankly down at Ed, his grip loosening just a bit. It was a low blow, but the only good reason Ed could think of.

"Have you... forgotten Envy?" he continued hoarsely. "Why she jumped... in front of me?"

Envy stared at the younger boy for a long time, as if trying to decide what to do. For a minute, Ed thought the homunculus was going to let him go until the grip tightened once again.

"Liz is dead Edward" Envy stated dully.

Ed opened his mouth to say something else. To tell him that Liz wasn't dead. But he couldn't breathe, much less speak. Darkness began encroaching on the edges of his vision.

" _Dammit,"_ Ed thought. _"Why is no one doing anything?"_

Suddenly, Envy froze. Light flashed across Edward's vision and it took him a moment to recognize a familiar knife hovering a hair's breadth from Envy's neck.

"Let my friend go," Liz said in a deadly quiet voice. "Or I slit your throat."

Slowly, Envy's grip loosened and he straightened, raising his hand over his head. Edward rolled over, gasping for breath.

"Good," Liz said. "Now you're going to wait here for the police to show up."

"That I doubt," Envy said lightly. He spun around faster than a blink, seizing Liz's hand and twisting it to the side. But he froze the very moment he saw her face.

"You…"

Liz twisted out of his grip and shoved him backward. Envy didn't even move to block. He stared at her with a blank expression, almost as if he was trying to figure out whether or not he was hallucinating.

"Touch me or my friend again, I'll kill you," Liz said tightly. "I swear I will."

"Kill me?" Envy said distantly. "That doesn't sound like you, Liz."

Liz stared at him for several seconds in confusion. She didn't know this face of his either so she hadn't immediately recognized him. But after a few moments her mouth dropped open to draw in a sharp breath of air. She knew.

"Envy."

Her face twisted suddenly in agony and she dropped to one knee, clutching at her abdomen. A cry of pain slipped between her clenched teeth.

"Liz!" Ed scrambled to her side, forgetting about Envy entirely.

"I'm... fine..." she hissed as she curled in on herself.

"Like hell you are. Someone help!" Ed called out.

"Out of the way!" Officer Hughes' voice broke through the crowd. "What the hell is this?"

Liz gave a shudder and slumped forward. Ed caught her before she hit the ground. Shit, this was a bad one.

Remembering Envy, he looked up again. But the homunculus was nowhere in sight. He had ditched before the police appeared.

"Dammit Envy" he whispered rubbing his neck, where finger shaped bruises had already begun to appear.

"Damn you..."

* * *

Envy stopped running after a few blocks, turning sharply into an alleyway. He leaned back against the wall, breathing heavily. Thoughts were jumbled inside of his head. Was that really her? Liz? Or was it just her double. Envy had run into his fair share of doubles in this world.

" _No,"_ he recalled. _"She knew my name. She recognized me."_

The tin can's alchemy had worked. Liz was alive. Despite everything, she was still alive.

A smile crept across Envy's face. And for one of the rare times in his life he tilted his head back and laughed.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter and the reappearance of Envy! Thanks as always for reading and REVIEW!**_


	7. Chapter 6: Reunion

_**A/N: Next chapter! This time I'm on time, look at that! This is a cute chapter with lots of EnvyxLiz. Which is the most important obviously.**_

 **Chapter 6: Reunion**

I woke up feeling like complete crap. An attack hadn't hit me that hard for several months and I hoped it would be several more months before it happened again. I sighed rubbing a hand over my face.

Someone shifted in the room. My eyes flitted to where Ed sat in a chair beside the bed, his head down. He must've fallen asleep while he was watching me.

"Edward?" I asked timidly.

His head jerked up. "Liz. You're awake."

He looked like hell. A black eye had begun to form on his face and finger shaped bruises cast shadows over his neck.

That's when it all came rushing back to me. The brawl. The man choking Edward. It was Envy.

Envy was alive.

"Ed, what happened?" I murmured, my voice almost too quiet to hear.

"Envy started it." Ed stared at the ground. "He was kicking my ass. I've gotten really sloppy since being here."

"That's an understatement. He nearly killed you," I said.

"Yeah. Its a good thing you showed up actually. Or I would be dead." Ed rubbed his neck. "But I'm fine now. Really."

"I'm glad. When I see Envy again, I'm kicking his ass myself. He doesn't get to kill you." I sat up in bed. "I… can't believe he's alive." The smallest of smiles passed over my face. I couldn't believe I had actually missed him."

"Yeah," Ed said after a pause. "Do you need anything Liz?"

"No, I'm fine." I smiled. "I think I got the pain out of my system. Thanks for getting me back here."

"Thanks for stopping our fight. And not dying this time." Ed stood. "See you later. Rest up." Then he left the room, closing the door behind him.

The sun had almost set, only the last of the daylight still streaming through my cracked window. I swung my legs off the bed, rubbing a hand through my hair. "Geez. I've been out for a while."

I stood and wandered over to my desk. My jacket hung on the back of the chair and my watch and one of my knives sat on the top. But the other was missing.

"Crap," I muttered. "I must have dropped it back in the square."

Something whizzed by my face and stuck in the wall with a quiver. I stared for a long moment and my second knife, embedded in the wall in front of me, still trembling from the impact.

"Yes. As a matter of fact you did."

I whirled around. Envy sat on my window sill, back in the form I knew so well, the slightest smirk on his face.

"Envy" I breathed. "You uh… what… how do you know where I live?"

He raised an eyebrow. "While that is a legitimate question, I assumed you'd have a few more before that."

"Oh, you have no idea," I said, pulling nervously at my thumb. "I don't know how you're here at all or how you're alive or how long you've been here or why you can still shift or why you just decided to kill Ed today, but you know I've gotten used to not having any answers over the last two years so—"

"Okay, got it." Envy held up a hand. "Careful, kid. You don't want to wake the neighbors. Or bring pipsqueak up here."

"Oh I'm sorry," I said. "Maybe my nerves would be less shot if you hadn't climbed through my window and thrown my own knife at me."

"Well I couldn't exactly use the door."

"That was so not the point."

Envy smirked, titling his head to the side. "If I was aiming for you, you would have known."

For some odd reason, heat rose to my face. "Yeah… well…" I sat down on the desk. "Let's start from the beginning. Why don't you explain how you got to this world?"

"I'm not sure. I've been here two years. It took me one year to learn to shift again and for all of that time I was stuck in a much more cumbersome form."

"What kind of cumbersome form?" I asked.

"A giant serpent of sorts," Envy said. "I had to stow away inside an abandoned castle to keep from being discovered."

"Wow. Taking the oroborus thing a little literally, are we?" I asked.

Envy shrugged. "Anyway, as soon as I was able to change into a more manageable shape I started wandering. I have four forms now. The serpent, this one, my original human form and the fullmetal pipsqueak. All forms I took on in my trip through the gate. That's the only logic I've found behind it."

"At least you have a form that blends in," I said. "And when you finally left that castle? What have you been doing since then?"

"Mostly wandering around. It's a pain to blend in with humans and there hasn't been much to do besides search for—" He stopped suddenly, pressing his lips together.

"Hoenhiem?" I finished quietly. "It's been a year since I've seen him. I couldn't tell you where he was even if I wanted to. Which I don't."

"That's right. You have a problem with revenge, don't you?" Envy looked up at the ceiling.

"Yup," I said popping the 'p'. "That has not changed over the past two years."

"I didn't expect it to." Envy said. "Of course, I didn't expect to… see you again at all."

I swallowed hard as painful memories flashed through my mind. The last time I had seen Envy, he was staring down at me, horrified, as I bled out on the ground of the opera house. "I didn't expect to see you again either. Especially under those circumstances." I looked up at him. "Want to tell me why you were choking the life out of Edward today?"

"Brotherly feud?" Envy suggested.

"I'm sure," I said, my eyes narrowing. "But you're not going to try to kill him again."

Envy's expression darkened. "Am I not?"

"No. You're not. You're not going to hurt him at all for that matter. He's one of the only things I have left in this world and he's my best friend. So I don't really care what kind of old grudges you have. You don't get to touch him."

Envy studied me for a long time before he sighed. "No, I guess I don't. Its just that… when I saw him walking around, alive… but I thought you were still…" He shook his head. "It didn't seem fair to me."

"Hey." I took a tentative step forward. "I'm alive, Envy. I don't really know how but I am." I looked down, trying to ignore the intensity of his gaze. "So you… don't have to beat yourself up about it anymore. I mean, if you have been beating yourself up. I don't know if you have. I know that when I jumped in front of Ed it brought back some bad memories but it was the only thing I could think to—"

I didn't get any further. Envy closed the gap between us in a second and suddenly his lips were against mine. There was a sense of desperation there, like he had wanted to do it since he entered my room. Like he had wanted to do it for the last two years. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling myself closer.

Because I had missed this too, against all odds.

The kiss broke and Envy pulled back a bit, just enough to look down at me. "I never thought I'd get to do that again," he murmured.

"Same," I managed. "I missed you. Which is surprising, given our history together."

"It is. You should be furious at me right now." His hand settled on my rib cage, right over my scar. "I'm the reason you're stuck here."

"I chose to jump between you and Edward. I have some of the blame," I said.

"Not all of it though," Envy said. "That attack you had earlier today. Its because of this, isn't it?"

I looked away. "A price of living. It's not so bad though."

"You're still a terrible liar I see."

I sighed. "Some things never change. But like I said, I'm alive. No reason to keep beating yourself up about it. You being guilty kind of weirds me out."

Envy's mouth twitched. "It's a rare thing, I promise you that." He leaned forward again, kissing me softly. It felt familiar and new at the same time. Familiar from our brief, positive encounters. But new because for the first time we weren't on opposite sides. There was no Dante. That fact was oh so freeing.

We moved backwards until my back hit the wall. I let myself enjoy the moment. It was nice to kiss someone without a morality crisis.

Envy broke the kiss again, his lips brushing over to my ear. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you enjoy kissing me."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were an asshole," I retorted.

Envy chuckled. "Keep your voice down. Something tells me you wouldn't want the pipsqueak to come up here at the moment."

Huh. He had a point there. That would lead to a very awkward situation.

I shivered as I felt Envy's cool breath dance across my neck. "I'm glad you're alive," he murmured. "You have no idea, Liz."

"I'm glad you're alive too," I murmured. "I never thought I would say those words."

He pulled back, smirking. "Well, there's a first time for everything."

"Liz?" a voice called from outside bedroom door. Dammit. Noah.

"I'll be right there!" I called.

"Guess I should leave," Envy pulled back, looking me over one last time, checking to make sure it was really me. "I'll see you soon, kid."

"Are you ever going to drop that nickname?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Sorry, old habits die hard." He kissed me once more before heading to the window. "Give the pipsqueak my hatred."

"I think you covered that today," I said.

Envy just shrugged. "Never hurts to add more." Then he jumped out the window. I ran to the ledge, leaning out and watching him disappear around the corner.

"Liz?" Noah knocked on my door.

"Come in," I called absently.

"I thought you might want some food, since you were passed out most of the day." She entered and set a tray down on my desk.

"Thanks," I replied, realizing just how hungry I was.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "I heard voices."

"Oh, I'm fine," I murmured leaning back from the window. I moved to close it but decided against it. "Just talking to myself."

* * *

 _ **A/N: I hope you enjoyed the fluff! I know did. Be sure to REVIEW and have a good week.**_


	8. Chapter 7: Wrong Place, Wrong Time

_**A/N: Next chapter! Not a ton of rewriting in this one. Mostly cleaning stuff up and patching rough edges. Hope you enjoy!**_

 **Chapter 7: Wrong Place, Wrong Time**

I have a habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, a fact which I can support by pages and pages of evidence from my recent past. Not to mention I also tend to stick my nose into things I shouldn't.

Why do I bring this up?

Well, the day after Envy's visit through my window—a visit which Ed, thank god, didn't find out about—I went out for a walk. See walks used to have a trend with getting me screwed over back in Amestris, but my walks in this world tended to be less interesting and exciting, simply because this world was less dangerous. I had gotten used to taking walks without falling into some trap, getting kidnapped, or discovering something horrifying.

So, either Envy brought my bad luck with him through the gate or my good fortune had run out because I had no such luck today.

It started when I spotted a couple familiar faces walking behind a man in uniform. I recognized them as the goons from the carnival and my thoughts immediately jumped to Noah. Had they tracked her down here? If these goons worked for the man in uniform, she had to be wanted by pretty important people. Seeing her gift in action, I wasn't surprised.

Now of course, the smart idea would be to go back to the inn and warn Noah about the men. So long as she stayed inside, she should behind. But honestly, I wanted to know why they wanted her. What sort of military conspiracy was going on here that required a fortune teller?

So what did I do? Followed them of course.

They moved quickly through the streets, keeping to the less crowded roads as most people who don't want to be followed do. I trailed behind them, swinging my watch around, pretending to be interested in every storefront and vendor. When they turned off into an alley way, I trotted across the street, placing myself against the wall.

"General," a voice said.

"Good afternoon Dr. Haushoffer. Thank you for meeting me here."

"Of course. Though I don't see why you couldn't have met me at the university."

"Best not to draw attention from a nosy student."

"I suppose. Any luck so far?"

"No, we can't find the Gypsy girl anywhere."

My brow furrowed. Haushoffer. I knew that name. Hoenhiem had worked with him before he left. He was a well-known professor at the forefront of the scientific community.

"Damn," Haushoffer muttered. "We need her to find the Great serpent for us. Eckheart says it may be possible without it to open the gate to Shamballa and we plan to try it... but I have doubts. I feel the circle will be incomplete."

I was frozen on the spot. Gate? Shamballa? What was Shamballa? And why did they need a circle to get it. If I didn't know any better, I'd think they were talking about a transmutation circle. But that couldn't be. Alchemy didn't work here.

More importantly, what did they mean by the great serpent. Envy had mentioned that as one of his forms. But they couldn't know about him could they? Unless rumors about him had gotten around while he was trapped in that form.

"Sightings stopped a little under a year ago" the General was saying. "Are you sure the serpent was ever real?"

"Eckheart believes so." Haushoffer sighed. "We trust her judgement for now. The Thule society is dependent on her."

"So you are trying tonight?"

"Yes we—"

I accidentally kicked a loose stone as I took a step forward to hear better and it flew into the opposite wall of the alleyway. Hausoffer cut off in mid-sentence. "What was that?"

That's my cue to go!

I turned and started making my way back down the street, donning my most casual expression but a hand rested on my shoulder, stopping me.

"Can we help you?" the general asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You can get your hand off my shoulder, yeah," I twisted away from him easily. "I'm just trying to get back home. It's not like your super-secret conversations mean anything to me."

"Are you sure about that?" The General scrutinized me. His goons started wandering from the alley and I kept my head down, hoping my hair would disguise my face. "Because you seemed to be listening in. Why would our conversation have meaning to some girl?"

"It wouldn't, obviously," I said. "You said it yourself. I'm just some girl." I took a step back. "I'll just leave you two to talk about your completely mythical other worlds ok?"

"I don't recall us ever saying that Shamballa was another world," Haushofer mused, joining the General in front of me.

Things clicked into place for one of the goons. "Hey! You're one of the runts who helped the gypsy escape at the fair!"

"Gotta go!" I said brightly. I ducked under the General's arm as he tried to grab me and made for the alleyway. The thugs tried to stop me but I shot under the first one, knocking his legs out from under him and kneed the other one in the face as I jumped before coming down in a roll. My hands scraped the cobble stone as I pushed myself to my feet and took off in a sprint.

"Stop her!" the General commanded. "Bring her back!"

The goons were hot on my trail because while they weren't amazing at fighting, they were fast and annoyingly persistent. Arms pumping at my sides I skidded around a corner and stopped as a short twinge shot through my chest. The footsteps behind me grew louder. I had to run. I had to get out of here.

I felt two arms grab me from behind and yank me behind a tall stack of crates in the alleyway, covering my mouth and cutting off my cry of surprise.

"Don't move," a voice whispered in my ear.

My natural reaction was just the opposite and I tried to struggle out of my captor's grasp. He held me fast to his chest, not budging.

"Which way did she go?"

"I think she went this way!"

The voices and footsteps slowly subside and the hand dropped away from my mouth and the person sighed "Who's out to get you this time kid?"

Relief washed over me. "Envy is that you?" I turned to see the tall blonde boy that was Envy's human form smirking at me.

"Who else did you think it was?"

"The voice was unfamiliar to me and judging by my luck it could've been any random kidnapper or serial killer or... something!" I snapped irritably though I was very relieved that the goons had lost track of me. "What are you doing here, anyways?"

"Well, I was following you." He shrugged looking amused. "I saw you sticking your nose into dangerous business and decided to make sure you didn't get yourself into trouble. Of course you did, so I decided to grab you before those guys caught up."

"The following is weird," I said. "But thanks for that."

"Don't mention it" He waved the gratitude away. "So what was the dangerous business?"

"Uh... I overheard something I wasn't supposed to. And it just so happens I had a run in with those goons at a carnival a few days ago. Ed and I saved this Gypsy girl who I guess had a "contract" with them, obviously made against her will as she was running..." I grinned sheepishly. "That goon recognized me. I'm not surprised; I kicked him in the face pretty hard. They still need to find her for some reason or another and I guess they were hoping to find out her location from me."

"You have the unfailing ability to get on peoples bad sides kid" Envy sighed, shaking his head.

"You have the unfailing ability to smirk constantly." I retorted. "And I don't get on peoples bad sides that much! Sometimes they attack me for no good reason! Like you for example! I never did anything wrong to you and you kidnapped me all the time!"

Envy was unfazed by my temper, leaning casually back against the wall. "That's not true... you called me a palm tree on several occasions, shrimp. And you held me hostage once."

"Yeah, _once,"_ I said. "And if you get to call me short, I get to call you palm tree. Because it's _true_."

"Well then it's also true that your short." Envy smirked patting me on the head.

"I am _not_!

"You're also loud."

"No I'm—" I stopped realizing I was yelling. "...I hate you."

"Hmm, I don't recall that being the case last night," he said lightly.

"Do you want to die? Because I'm assuming you can over here."

Envy snickered. "I've missed arguing with you."

I suddenly heard a gun click and I whirled around to see the goons, the professor, and the General standing at the head of the alleyway. The general aimed a pistol at me, "Alright don't move girl."

"We're in the middle of an argument here" I muttered, glaring at him. "Its very touching and nostalgic. Can you come back later?"

"Quiet!" the General commanded sharply. "If you hadn't been so loud, we wouldn't have found you anyway."

Envy covered a laugh with his hand and I resisted the urge to elbow him.

"Where's the Gypsy girl?" the General persisted. "You know."

"Let's say I wanted to tell you, then what?" I asked icily.

"That is none of your concern." Haushofer said in a much calmer mood then the General. "It is not something normal people need to know about."

"Normal is the last word I'd use to describe her," Envy said lightly.

"He speaks the truth," I said. "You should leave before you regret it. You're not getting answers out of me."

"Don't play tricks with us little girl! We'll—" the General started but I was already moving, sliding my knife into my hand with practiced ease and slicing upwards, cutting the barrel of the shiny pistol in half and sending it flying from his hands.

"I don't like it when people point guns at me," I said. "You think you can take me? Go ahead. I'll wipe the floor with you."

The goons moved in to attack me but I kicked his feet out from under him, twisted and punched him to the side as he fell. The second came at me and I ducked under his arm and punched him in the side, bringing him down. Then a sudden sharp pain shot through my abdomen and I fell to my knees, wincing in pain.

Why, why again already? I should get at least a few days break after that bad one yesterday!

" _You're working yourself too hard little human,"_ Truth warned.

" _Oh really? I hadn't noticed!"_

The General grabbed a gun from one of his fallen goons, aiming at my head again. "Damn brat."

With lightning speed Envy was in front of me, grabbing the gun and forcing it up before the General could fire, sending the bullet harmlessly into the air.

"Give me the gun," he said in a low voice. "Now."

The General let go of the gun and stumbled back. Envy could look pretty scary, even if he was in his human form. He pointed the gun at its previous owner, his finger on the trigger.

"Leave now," he said, his face dead serious, a vicious gleam in his eye. "And I won't kill you. Stay and you're as good as dead."

"Damn you" the General growled. "Let's go!" He glanced at me. "This isn't the end girl."

Then they left, running from the alleyway, like the brave men they are.

Envy tossed the gun away and bent down next to me "You okay, Liz?"

"I... yeah..." I murmured, staring at him in shock. "Quick thinking, thanks."

"You're strong kid, but don't pick fights like that when you're outnumbered." Envy sighed. "It doesn't work out so well for you."

"I could've handled it if I hadn't—" I cut off suddenly, remembering who I was talking to. "Uh... never mind."

A small smirk crept onto Envy's face "That's my point. Because of that scar you've got, you can't fight that many people without risking an attack, am I right?"

I bit my lip and stared at the ground, "Yeah."

"My point is watch yourself." he pulled me to my feet.

"Oddly enough, you seemed worried about me" I teased with a grin.

He rolled his eyes "Just don't be stupid, okay, kid?"

"Yeah, okay." I sighed. "Thanks again."

He smirked and looked up at the darkening sky. "I think Fullmetal pipsqueak is going to freak out if you don't get back soon."

"Ah, crap," I muttered slapping a hand to my forehead. "You're right. See you later." I waved before cracking a smirk. "Palm tree." I darted down the alleyway before he could hit me.

"You too shrimp!" he called after me.

* * *

I managed to get home before it got completely dark but Ed was still waiting by the stairs, looking worried. "Liz where've you been?"

"I had a run in with some... people. I'm fine." I said evasively. "I got away."

"I can see that" Ed sighed. "Now who were these people?"

I told him about the conversation I had overheard between the professor and the General and how the goons had chased me. I stopped before I got the part about Envy, finishing with a lame, "So I out ran them."

Ed eyed me, his arms crossed, his eyebrow raised "I thought we were past your little phase of hiding things from me."

I bit my lip "Ed, do you really want to hear about Envy?"

"What? What does he have to do with this?" Ed demanded. "Did he attack you?"

"Uh... no... actually he kind of saved me..."

Ed blinked in disbelief. "Really?"

"Yes Ed." I sighed in exasperation. "We've discussed that he doesn't hate me right? The whole history of our relationship? We went through all of that. Of course he helped me."

"I know, I know. I'm glad you're okay," Ed muttered. He stared at the ceiling, looking for a way to change the subject. "So… Haushofer. That name sounds familiar."

"Yeah, I remember the name too." I nodded. "Didn't your dad work with him or something?"

"Yeah... I think he teaches at the university." Ed nodded. "If we're gonna learn something we'll have to do a little snooping. You in?"

"Duh." I yawned. "But not right now. I'm tired. I'm gonna go get some sleep."

"Right... oh and Liz."

I turned, an eyebrow raised.

"Do you have any idea what they meant by great serpent? I can't figure that one out." Ed asked.

Oh I had an idea. But I wasn't sure I wanted him to know.

"No clue" I shrugged the lie rolling with surprising ease off my tongue. "Sounds weird right? Probably some legend or an expression or something like that... maybe we'll figure out tomorrow if we look around."

"Yeah guess you're right." Ed nodded. "Night Liz."

"Night." I called heading up the stairs.

 _'You lied so easily there little human'_ Truth giggled.

"Yeah." I murmured. "I lie so much, I was bound to get better at it sometime."

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Be sure to review and as always, have a lovely week.**_


	9. Chapter 8: Investigation

_**A/N: Next chapter! Not a ton of changes to this one. Just cleaned up a bit. Enjoy!**_

 **Chapter 8: Investigation**

Ed and I went to the university the next day to ask around, however as it turned out he wasn't there to interrogate. According to his students, he had canceled his lectures today in favor of spending time at his villa where he was working for a mysterious organization called the Thule society.

One student was kind enough to explain it to us. Thule was a small island in the north written about in ancient mythology. The Thule society wanted to harness the power of the Gods that dwell on the island and use it to reclaim the destiny of the Aryan race. Personally, the whole plan sounded a few equations short of a transmutation circle. But our curiosity was piqued.

"I wonder he could be doing up in his villa?" Ed wondered aloud as we left the campus. "Something big, I bet."

"Yeah," I said. "If we were smart we'd probably drop the subject here."

"…So we're going tonight, right?"

"Hell yeah."

* * *

"The professor sure has a lot of guards around his place," Ed muttered as we hid behind the hedge, watching the patrols wandering past, flashlights gliding along the grass. This house was huge. One of the biggest houses I'd ever seen.

"To protect their mystical, magical nonsense." I shook my head. "Ancient Gods, cults... how are they going to save their country with a myth?"

"Unless they really are trying to open the gate to our world" Ed murmured. "Who knows, maybe there's a way without alchemy to open the gate. Guess that's what we're here to find out."

"Yeah. Now how to get past the guards..." I scanned the area until I spied a broken window just above us. "Ed give me a boost." Ed cupped his hands together and I placed my foot there. With a grunt he launched me up. I rolled through the open window, barely managing to avoid getting impaled by shards of jagged glass before landing in a crouch. I looked around for any sign of guards in the hallway but found none.

I stood and peered through the window. "All clear. Come on up."

Ed clambered up and slid carefully through the window, one piece of glass catching the skin on his cheek as he edged his way through leaving a shallow cut there, causing him to hiss slightly before he managed to get through all the way.

"You okay?" I asked, gesturing to his cheek.

"Yeah, I'm good, I've had worse" Ed sighed.

I grinned. "No argument there."

We crept through the dark halls of the building, careful not to make any noise. This place reminded me of lab five. Abandoned but full of secrets.

Ed caught sight of a small window on the wall of the hall and peered through it "What? Rockets?"

I looked through too and saw below us a huge room full of missiles of all types. They looked a lot like the rockets Alphonse built. "Al... Don't tell me these people are your sponsors" I murmured.

"Let's keep going." Ed said taking my arm and pulling me ahead.

"Yeah, right" I followed, not exactly wanting to dwell on the moral nature of Al's employers. He was so happy about it too.

We finally reached a huge round room that seemed to go up forever, lined with huge columns made out of a brown stone material. In the middle of it was a gigantic drawing, drawn out with what looked like chalk.

"What is this" Ed murmured venturing forward. A grin passed over his face. "Looks like a sorcery diagram or something. Maybe a spell for sacrificing virgins or summoning demons from the depths of the earth. These guys are hopeless."

"No, Ed, look. The equations, the lines; it's not sorcery it's alchemy." I stared around at the dull chalk from where I stood behind the column. I didn't feel too good about this place. "It's a gigantic transmutation circle."

Ed stared for a minute at the ground before nodding "You're right... but why? Alchemy isn't supposed to work in this world so why have this circle here?" he muttered before dropping to his knees and studying the drawing. "It's incomplete in some places though" he picked up a fallen piece of chalk, stared at it for a second then looked back to the circle on the ground. Carefully he set chalk to the floor and began to fill in the gaps.

"Ed wait." I murmured. "We should leave. Its not like it'll work anyway. Neither of us have been able to do alchemy since we came here." I bit my lip and looked around the room. I was starting to get the creeps. I felt like someone was watching us.

"What's with you being so suddenly jumpy?" Ed asked, an eyebrow raised.

"I've got a bad feeling about us staying here that's all," I snapped. "Can't we just go find the guy and get it over with?"

By this point Ed had completed the circle and he sighed "You're right I guess... It won't work anyway... guess I'm just a sucker for nostalgia." he rubbed a hand tiredly over his face then moved it down to place it on the circle.

The chalk glowed bright blue and Ed's head jerked up. My eyes widened and I took a step back as a huge expanse of dark purple matter expanded above the room. A second later armored bodies came falling out, clattering hard against the floor in a huge heap of scrap metal. Edward stumbled back to avoid them.

"What... the..." I could do nothing but stare.

"What's going on here?" Ed whispered. "I... I didn't do anything!"

I turned at the sound of voices and footsteps coming toward us.

 _"Hide human..."_ Truth warned. For some reason I did, ducking behind the column.

"What the... What happened here?!" I peered out from my hiding spot just as the general, followed by the professor and several armed soldiers filled the room, and stare at the armored bodies in shock.

"Don't move" a few soldiers surrounded Ed and he froze glaring around at them. At least he didn't try for an attack.

"How could this have happened?" Haushofer murmured in shock. "We've never been able to open the portal twice before no matter how many times we tried, but here they've all come back to us... from Shamballa."

"What do you mean?" Ed asked, cautiously.

The General stalked over, raised a fist and punched Ed in the face sending him to his knees "We'll ask the questions here! Are you that boy from before? No. You look alike but you're not the same."

My eyes narrowed and my hand went to the hilt of one of my knives.

 _"Not yet,"_ Truth cautioned.

 _"Why the hell not,"_ I thought back.

 _"The general will recognize you and you may not get as much information. Edward will be fine,"_ Truth said steadily. I frowned but obeyed. This was the first time Truth had actually tried to help me while in my head.

"Check them out! See if they're okay!" Haushofer ordered. The soldiers searched the armor only to flinch back in horror and disgust.

"He's been crushed!"

"This ones dead too sir."

"Is this your doing, boy?" the General demanded.

Ed remained silent.

"Just who are you?" Haushofer asked in a much calmer tone.

"Are you Haushofer?" Ed asked, his eyes narrowed.

"I am." The man nodded after a pause.

"I've heard that name from my father" Ed muttered. "My name is Edward Elric. My father's name was Hoenhiem."

Haushofer's eyes widened "What?"

Then a woman's voice broke through the echoing room "In the vast expanses of the hollow earth lies a kingdom far greater than any civilization the surface has ever known. It is a vast utopia without any war or illness, suffering or hate. The wisdom of its inhabitants promises an absolute peace. While the mystical power of its great armies guarantees victories in mankind's final Great War."

I pulled my knife slowly from my belt as a woman came into my view. She had short, fluffy blonde hair and blue eyes, the classic and preferred Aryan look of the German people, and a calm but cocky smile drawn over her face. An air authority hung about her. I almost instantly disliked her. It felt to me like Dante all over again. It was just the aura that lingered around her. Superior, arrogant, at ease because she assumed everything would go her way. I hated it.

"The road to Shamballa is difficult" she continued, looking to Haushofer. "It seems your hypothesis was correct professor."

"A lucky guess." Haushoffer said simply.

The woman turned to look at Edward "Hello Edward Elric. It is nice to finally meet you. Your father was working for our society, and still helps today."

"I don't know where he was or what he told you lady." Ed growled.

"My name is Delinda Eckheart, thank you," she said firmly.

"And you don't need to know any more than that," the general said, raising his gun and aiming at Edward.

"Wait! Hess!" Haushoffer admonished.

"This plan for Germany is in motion. What if this boy tells our secrets to Berlin?" General Hess growled.

"Okay, I'm not waiting anymore," I muttered, seizing my knife and throwing it at the General. I hit the gun, slicing his hand a bit, causing him to drop his weapon and his in pain. I darted forward as he reached again for the gun. Before he leveled it with my head, I scooped up my knife and held the blade against his neck.

"You pull that trigger General" I growled my eyes narrowed. "I fall back and this blade slices your neck."

"You again!" Hess snarled. "This is the girl we were telling you about chairman." He glanced at Eckhart.

"Ah yes." she smiled a friendly smile that I found not at all friendly. "I hear you move well in a fight for a normal German girl miss...?" she raised an eyebrow in question.

"Liz Parker." I said with a bright smile. "Nice to meet you."

"From that symbol on the hilt of your knife there I am guessing you are no stranger to Shamballa yourself," I said.

"I know nothing about it. At least not the world you were describing," I said flatly. "A Utopia without war, pain, suffering, or hate? Doesn't sound like any place I know." My eyes narrowed. "Maybe you should recheck your history."

"Yeah, Thule island, Shamballa" Ed shook his head. "It seems you people are obsessed with any world but this one."

"Yes we have that in common" Eckheart smiled at him before turning back to me. "But you are not a child of Hoenhiem are you?"

"Just a friend of the family" I shrugged.

"Of course" she nodded, glancing behind me.

Suddenly someone grabbed me from behind, pressing a gun to my head. I hadn't seen him move in the midst of conversation.

"Don't move, girl."

I snarled and struggled as the General backed away rubbing his neck before pointing the gun toward Ed again. Ed was quick, raising his fake hand in front of the gun before rolling back and diving sideways into the pile of metal suits. I heard scattered clanking as Ed moved through the pile.

"He can't hide in there forever" Eckheart murmured. "General, lower your gun. Do not shoot him. We may need him."

"Yes, Chairman." Hess lowered the gun reluctantly

Then the suits went flying everywhere and in the middle of the room I saw a suit of armor crushing Ed in a hug "Brother!" a familiar voice laughed. "Oh brother I'm so glad to see you! It's been so long; are you okay?"

"Al..." I whispered feeling a smile spread over my face.

"I can't breathe!" Ed gasped.

"Sorry" Al set him down on his feet. "But you've changed! You're taller now."

"Al..." Ed stared for a minute before whacking off his head with his hand in anger "WHAT YOU THOUGHT I'D STILL BE A BEAN WHEN I'M 18 YEARS OLD!"

"The suits empty!" Haushofer gasped.

"What you've never seen a soul attached to a suit of armor before? You should get out more." I muttered under my breath.

"But how is that possible." Eckheart demanded.

"Don't you see? It's possessed by a demon!" the General yelled. "FIRE!"

Before I could wonder how the heck anyone could compare Al to a demon, the soldiers open fired on the two brothers who ducked behind the other suits of armor.

"You haven't changed brother" I heard Al say through the bullets. "Still causing trouble!"

"Save the lecture. We need to get out." He pointed at me. "Grab Liz, will you."

"Right."

There was a wild cry as Al charged, Ed hanging behind him on his back. The armor snatched me from my captor, knocking him over in the process and slinging me under his arm, before continuing to run.

"Which way do I go?" Al asked.

"Anywhere!"

"I don't know where I'm going!"

"It's better than getting shot!"

"WHEE!"

"Stop being a freak Liz!"

"Bite me!"

* * *

Several minutes later we were sitting on the banks of a small river that ran by the brightly lit German town, Al in between Ed and I.

"I've dreamed of this place" Al murmured. "It's pretty. Are we really in the gate?"

"The other side of it" Ed corrected. "But forget that. I want to hear about your life Al. How'd you get back into that armor again?"

"Again?" Al cocked his head to the side. "Oh... right. You attached my soul to armor just like this didn't you? When my body was lost in the gate." He sighed. "I'm sorry brother... I can't remember any of that."

"What?" Ed asked. I got a bad taste in my mouth.

"I haven't seen you since we transmuted mom. Then I woke up and a girl named Rose was taking me home." Al murmured.

"So that means..." I breathed. "Al..."

Al turned to look at me "You're Liz aren't you? I've heard a lot about you. You helped us through our journey, didn't you?" He looked down. "I'm really sorry that I can't remember you..."

I managed a sad, small smile, trying to hide the sinking feeling I felt in my gut "Don't worry about it Al...I'm just glad you're alive." Especially since it was something he did that brought me back to life. I was sure of it.

Ed met my eyes for a moment across Al, a sad look in his gold irises. He could see how much it hurt to know that Al couldn't even remember meeting me. This was the first time in his mind that he'd ever seen me before. Had he really lost all of those memories? All the times we spent looking for the philosopher's stone? Did he really forget everyone in the military, Hughes and Mustang? Armstrong? Did he forget the homunculi and Scar and all of our enemies too?

" _It's like I asked,"_ Truth said. " _Would you trade the memories to stop the pain?"_

" _I'm not in the mood, Truth,"_ I thought bitterly.

"I wondered how they opened that portal?" Al was musing. "Will they do it again—" All the sudden Al cut off and the armor began shaking.

"Al?" Ed asked worriedly. "Are you ok?"

"Brother" Al shuddered. "The transmutation I used to attach my soul to this armor doesn't last very long. It looks like I've run out of time."

"But wait Al! This is too soon!" Ed stood.

"Don't leave now," I begged. "Al..."

"It's okay..." he whispered. "I think I know how to bring you back now. That portal they used... I'll try to open it from my side too..." The light faded from his eyes and became empty black holes again before the armor pitched forward and collapsed.

"Al!" Ed cried but he was gone.

After several seconds passed by in silence I drew in a long breath to keep myself from crying and stood up. With a sigh I offered a hand to Ed. "It's late." I managed a smile. "We should go back home before they stumble across us."

"Yeah" he murmured after a pause, taking my hand and pulling himself up. "Liz... I'm sorry..."

"Don't be" I shook my head. "It's not your fault."

I just realized in that moment how much I truly missed our old world.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Kind of depressing end to the chapter! Tune in next time for more fun filled sadness :) Thanks for reading and REVIEW!**_


	10. Chapter 9: The Danger of Dreams

**A/N: Welcome back everyone. It's been two years or so, huh? Wild. Publishing contracts are pretty crazy so I've been burried under a lot of original fiction writing. The good news is I finally managed to drill out some insurance chapters for three of my fics. The Afterstory will be returning on Thursday and my Game of Thrones fic on Sunday. I apologize sincerely for the hiatus and while I will try to promise regular updates, we all know how life happens. For now, enjoy! You're all lovely people.**

 **Previously on the Ashes Rewrite, Liz and Ed did some investigating of the Thule society and narrowly escaped. We return to our regularly scheduled programming!**

 **Chapter 9: The Danger of Dreams**

"We're sorry Chairman" General Hess apologized. "But they've both escaped. However, we do know where to find them. They've been living with Alphonse Heidrich for the past year."

"Is that so?" Eckhart rose from where she knelt, inspecting the soldiers. The trip had taken a toll on them but she found it hard to mourn their loss. They had brought them that much closer to the answer. They just needed the great serpent. She was sure with that final piece of the puzzle, their victory would be assured.

"And we have another stroke of luck" the General continued. "It appears the Gypsy girl has also been staying with them. We received a tip from one of our loyal contacts. That girl from earlier helped the gypsy escape at the carnival. One of my men recognized her during our first encounter."

"This is a bit of good fortune" a smile crept over the chairman's face. "After all, it seems passage through the gate without the great serpent is impossible... I have a feeling that they might know something about it as well. Everything seems to be intertwined here." She rubbed her fingers together. "Not to mention, we might need their knowledge of this strange magic to help get us through." She turned to face the General. "Find the gypsy, make her the deal. Our time draws close."

"You're actually planning on going through with this?" Haushoffer asked in disbelief. "There is no evidence to confirm it is Shamballa on the other side of that portal! What the girl said might be true. It could be somewhere completely different!"

"November 8th is only ten days away," the General argued. "The Fuhrer will make his move with or without the Thule society. Our role in the party hinges on this!"

"Relax General" Eckhart smiled. "The God's of the Aryan race are clearly lighting a path for us." She turned her eyes to the ceiling. "'The Thule society led the nation of Germany into a new and enlightened age.' That is exactly what the future generations will say."

The General saluted and left.

"Chairman" Haushoffer stepped forward. "Forgive me, but there is one other thing. The other day when we met that girl there was another boy. I'll admit seeing Edward Elric here tonight threw me off because they looked very similar. This boy bore even more resemblance to Hoenhiem, but he was clearly older. It could not have been the younger son Hoenhiem told us about." Haushoffer ran a hand agitatedly through his hair. "Hoenhiem has only two sons, correct?"

"That is what he said" Eckhart frowned. "I'm sure it is a minor detail. Carry on professor."

"Yes chairman."

* * *

"Ok so we know they're trying to open the gate" Ed said leaning against the wall across from where I sat at my desk. "They're trying to get into our world but for what purpose? What do they hope to gain from this so called 'perfect utopia'?"

"Nothing good" I muttered. "That Eckhart lady mentioned something about it guaranteeing a victory in man kinds final war." My brow furrowed. "Do you…You don't think they want to pull our world into their own war do you Ed?"

Ed didn't say anything for a long time. In a lot of ways, the prospect seemed too terrible to imagine. Amestris had faced war too many times under the guidance of the homunculi. It needed peace. For once it needed peace. "If it is we can't let them open the gate. Not at that cost." Edward finally said.

I sighed, my shoulders slumping "Right. Guess not." As much as I wanted to go home, wanted to take that chance… the safety of our world wasn't worth that.

"Hey it'll be fine" Ed managed a smile. "Besides, it looks like they can't properly open it without this great serpent thing—whatever that is—I still can't figure it out."

I laughed nervously. "Yeah. That. I think I might know what they mean by the great serpent, actually."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow. "You have a theory?"

"Or an absolute answer." I smiled bitterly. "Did Envy happen to tell you about his four forms? The ones he assumed while he was in the gate."

"He told me three of them," Ed muttered. "His human form, his homunculus form and me. The fourth one he didn't... mention..." he trailed off before looking at me "What are you saying Liz? Do you know his fourth form?"

"It's a giant serpent" I sighed. "Or dragon or something along those lines. Like the outer border of the oroborus tattoo, I guess. He was stuck in it for a year before he could figure out how to shift again." My fists clenched in my lap. "Did you notice the transmutation circle, how the shape in the middle kind of looked like a star?"

"Yeah..." Ed nodded slowly.

"I think..." I closed my eyes before continuing. "That they're trying to make a life sized oroborus. Think about it. A snake eating it's tail around that star. The gate always opened when a homunculus was born, it would open to take one back again."

There was a long pause before Ed sighed "It makes sense. They probably don't understand why it does but they're on the right track." He smiled at me. "Don't worry Liz, they're not going to find Envy. They wouldn't expect a shape shifter anyhow. People in this world don't have a clue about alchemy. And anyway, he's been fooling people into thinking he's human for centuries."

I stared at him. That was somewhat out of character: Edward comforting me about Envy. Maybe Ed really did know that I cared about the homunculus even if they were blood enemies. I had to give Edward credit; he was the best friend I could ask for.

"Yeah." I sighed and rested my chin in my hands, staring at the floor. "I wish we could go back without causing all this trouble." A bitter smile played across my face. "But I guess... that isn't equivalency is it?"

 _'You are learning little human,'_ Truth chuckled.

 _'Yippee... can you leave my head now as a reward?'_

 _'No but you can have a gold star.'_

 _'Oh fan- fricken-tastic'_

* * *

It was late at night as Noah entered the house again. Half of her didn't want to betray the people that had helped her, but half of her wanted so desperately to go to this other world. A place where she would be accepted, where everything was perfect and equal.

She wanted away from the vicious discrimination. The General's deal was a small price to pay for that.

All she had to do was search Liz and Edward's minds tonight. Figure out how their alchemy worked and see if she could find anything pertaining to "the great serpent". Then she'd report back. It would be simple.

How could they really be angry if she found the key to get them home again? She was doing this for them too... but at what cost? She wasn't sure; the Thule society wasn't telling her much of their plan.

Still she just wanted a place to belong, so she crept into Edward's room first, hesitating briefly before she sat down on the bed side where he lay, peaceful, no sadness or worldly woes etched onto his face in his dreaming state. Then she leaned over him and touched her forehead to his, letting herself be pulled into a whirlwind of memories and dreams.

* * *

My dreams that night were strange, more like a flurry of flashbacks. They weren't nightmares, but they still made me feel uneasy for some unknown reason.

The first memory was that of my death back in our old world. Okay it's understandable how that one made me feel uneasy, but watching it from above I felt sort of removed from it all. I saw Envy and Ed fight before Dante revealed that Envy was the Elric's brother, then saw myself running and pushing Ed out of the way just before Envy stabbed me. God there was a lot of blood. Ed was in shock, Envy was in shock and I oddly enough seemed like the calmest one.

The dream faded to Ed and Envy fighting, Envy catching hold of Ed's neck and pushing him down to the ground, choking him.

"Stop." I tried to yell but by throat wasn't working right. I was only able to watch.

"Give me one reason not to kill you little brother" Envy hissed.

"Liz" Ed choked.

Then the other me burst through the crowd, holding a knife to Envy's throat, ready to kill him. He twisted out of my grasp. Saw me for the first time. The silence between us was deafening. As we recognized each other. As I managed to whisper, "Envy."

The dream faded to the memory of that night, the transmutation circle, the portal opening up. I heard Envy's words playing through my head.

'I have four forms. My preferred one, my old human form, a clone of the Fullmetal pipsqueak and the fourth... well it's like a giant serpent...or a dragon...'

What if they did find him? Though how could they really. Only Ed and I knew.

 _Wake up._

 _Why?_

 _Wake UP, little human!_

I jolted into awareness my eyes flying open. I sat up and groaned inwardly. "What, Truth?!"

 _"You should know better than anyone the danger of dreams,"_ he murmured.

"What's that supposed to mean." I yawned glancing toward the door. I saw a shadow moving down the hall and I slipped out of bed and poked my head out to see Noah shuffling quickly toward her room. "Noah? What are you doing up so late?"

She jumped and whirled around. "Ah, nothing Liz." She nervously brushed her hair behind her ear. "Just having trouble sleeping. That's all."

"Oh... ok." I nodded and closed the door. I stood uncertainly in the center of the room for a minute before murmuring. "I'm getting a bad feeling Truth." I rubbed my fingers together. "A bad feeling something is going to go to hell really soon. Want to tell me why that is?"

 _"Because it's your life of course"_ Truth sighed, a bit of dark humor in his voice.

I laughed once. "Can't argue with that."

* * *

"I know who the great serpent is," Noah spoke quietly to the General.

"Really?" his eyes widened. "How... where is it?"

"The problem is..." she continued. "He isn't just a serpent. He's a shape shifter from the other side of the gate, but he is here."

"A shape... shifter" Haushoffer looked dumbstruck. "Here?"

"He has lost most of his forms traveling through the gate except for four of them" Noah explained. "One of which is that of a great serpent. Liz and Edward know him. The difference is Edward hates him, Liz… doesn't." She bit her lip. "And he is Edward's older half-brother."

"Brother. Another child of Hoenhiem" Haushoffer murmured. "You don't think... that boy we saw that day with the girl...?

"Just to think he was right there." General Hess said thoughtfully. "So how do we plan on catching him?"

"I think that it's too risky" Haushoffer said immediately. "We don't know what an inhuman thing like that might do... we need to work out a deal of sorts."

"He would never make a deal." Noah murmured. "There's not much you can really offer him that he would deal with. Apparently he hates most humans."

"Most?" General Hess raised an eyebrow.

"Well..." Noah bit her lip before continuing. "Not Liz... he... from what I can tell, cares about her."

"In that case I have a plan that will bring the great serpent to us." Haushoffer sat back, clapping his hands together. "Catch the girl, leave a note with Edward. He knows this shifter. It is likely he will find him. We have little time to search for him even if we wanted to. This is the best plan."

"Wait" Noah protested. "You won't hurt Liz... will you?"

The General smiled warmly "If she cooperates there will be no need."

"That's my point, she won't." Noah persisted.

"Dead bate is no good to us" Haushoffer shrugged. "If the creature agrees to our terms she will be set free."

"Then it's settled" the General said enthusiastically. "We'll put the plan into action as soon as we have Eckheart's permission."

Noah drew in a long shaky breath. What had she done?

 _I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Liz._

* * *

 **A/N: And there you have it. More juicy stuff in the next chapters. I'm going to try to update regularly on Tuesdays. Until then, happy reading and writing!**


	11. Chapter 10: Reluctant Alliance

_**A/N: Look everyone, I'm back! And right on schedule. I hope I can ride that wave for as long as it takes me. In this chapter, the plot kicks it up a notch and Envy is back so enjoy that. Happy reading!**_

 **Chapter 10: Reluctant Alliance**

Do you remember how I complained about how a lack of extraordinary happenings had made the last two years of my life dull and kind of weird? No near death experiences, no landing constantly on my bad shoulder, no secret underlying plots involving me and especially no kidnappings?

Who'd of thought that all four of those streaks could be broken in one night?

How you might ask?

Well, okay, so I was on one of those recently harmless, evening walks, trying to get back to Gracia's place before it got too dark outside. I didn't want her to worry and I didn't want Ed to assume I had gotten myself killed. Ed always assumes the worst.

And he is usually right.

As I took a quick short cut down an alley, I heard the sound of quick footsteps running up from behind. Some cried out and I moved my head to the side and let a fist soar past my cheek, coming so close I could feel the air rush past. I grabbed my assailant's wrist and used the momentum to flip him over my shoulder and pin him to the ground, twisting his arm behind his back.

"Yeah, just a note." I commented dryly. "It usually doesn't help to yell when you're about to attack someone. It kind of alerts them of your presence... keep that in mind for future late night robbery attempts.

"Freeze." A gun clicked behind me and I glanced toward my new attacker.

"May I help you?" I asked.

"You're going to have to come with us now." the man said, joined from the shadows by five others. "We don't want any trouble."

"Of course." I beamed. "That's why you're holding me at gunpoint in a dark alleyway. It's just because you don't want any trouble."

"Quiet." the man snapped. "Step away from the man on the ground and come quietly."

I stared at him. "Who sent you and told you that I would come quietly? They clearly don't know me bery well."

The man pressed his lips together in a tight line before nodding to the other surrounding goons. Goon one charged me, going for a grab but I released my captive and ducked low to the ground causing him to trip over me and fall straight onto his comrade.

"Well that was pathetic." I blinked.

The guy who seemed to be in charge growled and yelled "Don't just stand there! Get her!"

Two other goons lunged. I cartwheeled out of the way of the first one's kick and ducked under the second's punch before crouching and launching myself into the air. My foot contacted with goons face sending him to the ground. I rolled forward, jumped to my feet and jammed my elbows back into the gut of the second goon before turning to face the awaiting men again with a smirk.

"Next."

I felt a hand close suddenly around my ankle and jerk me off my feet causing me to land... on my bad shoulder, naturally.

I kicked my free foot back into the man's face. "God why does that always happen to me," I growled at no one in particular

" _Your dangerous, late night walking habits?"_ Truth suggested.

" _Alright, I seriously did not ask you,"_ I replied.

I tried to scramble back to my feet, but two sets of hands seized each of my arms and shoved me back to my knees. Someone gripped a painful handful of my hair and yanked my head back so I was looking up. I felt a gun barrel press against my forehead.

"Now, you're going to come with us," the man in charge said.

"Like hell!" I tried to struggle. "Who sent you?!"

"Who did you think?" an annoyingly familiar voice of a certain General reached my ears.

"Of course. You." I exhaled. "I don't really know what else I expected. Say, could you get your goons to let me go so that I can punch you a few times?"

"It's not very becoming of a young lady to make such empty threats" he smirked, coming to a stop in front of me and taking my chin in his hand. "It seems that even you can't fight up several men at once."

"Is fighting several men at once an easy task by your standards? I'm out of practice!" I tried to jerk my head away but his grip on my face only tightened.

"I suppose you put up a decent fight." He shrugged. "But either way you're beaten."

"Not the way I see it." I snapped though that was exactly the way it looked right now. See after not being kidnapped for over two years I was actually starting to get used to relaxing and…not glance over my shoulder every two seconds. These bastards just had to show up, chuck me on my bad shoulder, and kidnap me.

Well, I did wish for my life to back to "normal".

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Your information," the general said. "You can provide us with valuable insight in to Shamballa and that witch craft alchemy—"

"It's not Shamballa and alchemy is science."

"—and you're our bait."

"For who? Ed?" I rolled my eyes. "Because if you wanted him you could have just caught him and saved a lot of trouble. We're about on the same level."

"Not for Elric. For the Great serpent... or I suppose you know him as a shape shifter."

I froze. "How did you... how did you find out about him? Ed and I were the only ones who knew... _How the hell did you find out?_ " I jerked violently at my captors grasps. " _Tell me."_

The General smiled and released my chin. "You know that gypsy really wants to see your world. She wanted to help us open a portal so that she can leave her life. She wasn't that hard to persuade actually."

Noah. Why? After all we did, why would she betray us?

 _"I warned you about the dreams little human,"_ Truth murmured in my head.

That was right. The dreams. That was the only way Noah could've known about Envy. She told these nut jobs and now I was the bait to lure him in. Had she read Ed's mind too? Did she find out they were brothers? What else had she learned?

I swallowed and let my head hang, staring at the ground. They had me. Nothing I could do here.

"Deliver the note" the General said. "And we're leaving."

 _"Envy... don't you dare come. I'll kill you if you decide to give yourself up for me,"_ I thought as I was dragged away.

 _I can't lose you too._

* * *

"Edward? Where is Liz?" Gracia asked the boy as he sat deep in thought at the table. Al Hiedrich had stormed off the previous night to work in the factory and Ed hadn't gotten too much sleep afterward. He really hated fighting with Al...even if he wasn't really his brother.

He looked up. "Uh...I haven't seen her this morning come to think of it." His brow furrowed. "Actually I didn't see her last night, either."

"I'm worried. Do you think she's alright?" Gracia murmured looking toward the door.

Ed opened his mouth to reply when a knock came. He hurried to answer it and saw officer Hughes standing in the doorway, a sheet of paper clutched in his hand. His face looked grim which couldn't be a good sign.

"Edward. I found this while I was making my rounds." He held out the piece of paper. "It's about Liz."

Ed snatched it out of his hands, quickly skimming the words.

 _Edward Elric,_

 _Don't worry, your friend, Liz, is safe with the Thule society for now... but we won't be hospitable for too long,_

 _If we cannot open the gate by November 8th she will die,_

 _We need the great serpent. You know the shifter. Find him._

 _Bring him to us and we will release your friend._

 _-General Hess_

Ed read over the paper several times his eyes wide, his hands clenching the parchment so hard it nearly ripped. The shape shifter? How did they know... how did they know about Envy? Liz wouldn't have told them so how?

"Edward?" Gracia asked worried.

Ed squeezed his eyes shut in frustration "Damnit. I'm going out!" and he hurried past Hughes and out the door.

This was the last thing he wanted to do. He wanted to stay as far away from Envy as possible. But if he was the only way to save Liz... what choice did he really have. If there was any other way he would take it but he couldn't think of anyone else who would help him... or at the very least help Liz.

And that pissed him off too no end.

He hated Envy. Envy hated him. But they both cared about Liz, and just maybe, that would be enough.

An hour of searching later a light rain had begun to fall and Ed had no luck finding Envy. Who was he kidding anyway? That homunculus could be anywhere and hardly anyone would be outside in this weather anyway.

"Damnit Envy." He hissed as he walked quickly through the streets ignoring the water beginning to soak through his clothes. "You stupid excuse for a brother. Where the hell are you?! If you don't show up soon I'm going to-"

He was cut off as a foot stuck out in front of him, sending him sprawling onto the ground.

"Oops, my foot slipped. What were you saying you'd do pipsqueak?"

"Envy!" Ed rolled over, propping himself up on his elbows. Envy was looming over him in his human form, a mocking smirk plastered on his face as usual. Ed's eyes narrowed.

"Where the hell were you? I've been looking everywhere!"

"Huh?" Envy blinked obviously taken aback by this. "I'm pretty sure you've lost me, little brother."

"Stop calling me that!" Ed snapped thrusting the paper crumpled in his hand toward the homunculus.

"That..." Envy said after a pause. "Is a piece of paper."

"Read the damn note, you psychotic bastard!"

"Tch." the homunculus snatched the paper from Ed's hand. As he began to read, the smirk melted away. "...So they took her?" He asked lowly his eyes never leaving the note.

Ed nodded. "She never came back from her walk last night."

"That idiot." Envy growled rubbing a hand over his face. "I told her to be careful and she goes and gets herself kidnapped again."

"You do realize that most times she's gotten kidnapped were your fault right?" Ed asked.

"Course I do. Seems it's still my fault." He crumpled the piece of paper in his hand. There was no mistaking the deadly edge to his voice. "Shape shifter... great serpent..." His cold gold eyes flicked to meet Ed's for the first time. "And I wonder how they found out about that since clearly the only people who could know were Liz and you. We do have an interesting possible scenario here don't we?"

"If you're insinuating that I told them, you're wrong!" Ed snapped, standing so that he was almost eye level with the older boy. "I didn't tell them anything. I don't know how they figured it out. Why would I do that anyway?"

"Oh gee, I wonder" Envy growled. "It's a perfect opportunity to take me out and get home. Give me one good reason why wouldn't you jump at a chance like that?"

"I'll give you two reasons why!" Ed snapped, fists clenching. "It's true you're one of the people I hate most, and quite frankly that idea of getting rid of you and going home sounds nice. But there are a couple of things that put a wrench in the situation." He raised one finger. "First off, they want to use you to open a portal to our world by making a life size oroborus. They're going to use it to invade Amestris and use its power to fuel their own war. I'm not going to bring anything like that on my old friends. I'm not that selfish." He held up a second finger. "The second reason is Liz, or did you even need to ask!"

"Liz?" Envy asked raising an eyebrow. "And how much do you know about that pipsqueak?"

Ed stopped short. Envy probably didn't know that Liz had told him everything. Not that it should matter. Liz was his friend. But he didn't need to get into that now. "I know that Liz cares about you for whatever reason. I don't really know why. But she's my friend. She's lost too much and I would never take something else away from her!"

Envy was speechless for a a long moment, a refreshing sound. The homunculus studied him for a long time before he sighed. "Damn... you humans are so cliché." His face grew serious again "So do you know where these guys are?"

"Yeah... Liz and I went there the other day to take a look around." Ed nodded.

"Right, you have a habit of sticking your nose into things you really shouldn't," Envy muttered. "Alright pipsqueak. You're going to take me to where ever this place is and we're going to get Liz out. Got it?"

"You're agreeing to this a lot easier than I expected," Ed said warily.

"Normally I would beat the location out of you but in case something does happen I need someone to get her out," he said tightly. "And let's get one thing straight, I hate you. The only reason I'm not choking you to death right now is because of Liz."

"The only reason I haven't killed you yet is because of Liz," Ed retorted.

"Well then since we're both alive I guess Liz is doing her job well." A smirk broke out onto Envy's face and he turned and started down the street. "Come on already. If those short legs of yours can catch up."

"I'm not short you bastard!" Ed growled not wanting to follow the older homunculus at all. But if this was for Liz what choice did he really have?

He sighed. So the reluctant alliance began.

* * *

 _ **A/N: And so begins some of my favorite chapters in this particular book. I'm just a big fan of enemies being forced to work together. Hope you enjoyed! Review and happy reading!**_


	12. Chapter 11: Human Strength

_**A/N: Next chapter. This is a fun one for Envy character development, so it's exciting. Hope you guys enjoy!**_

 **Chapter 11: Human Strength**

"How nice to see you again Elizabeth."

Eckhart's greeting seemed simple, but something about her tone crawled under my skin and pissed me off to no end. Maybe it was the smug look. Maybe it was because she called me Elizabeth. Maybe it was because she reminded me of Dante.

...Maybe it was because she was the head of some insane organization trying to open the gate to my home world so that they could invade it and steal our technology.

Yeah, it was probably that.

"I can't exactly say the same about you" I growled, jerking uselessly on my handcuffs.

"I suppose the General has already informed you of why you're here" she smiled, the smug look never wavering. "We are confident the shape shifter will come for you. With you in our custody, he will likely agree to our demands."

"You don't know Envy very well" I growled. "Trust me, when it comes to him things might not go according to plan."

"Perhaps." She shrugged. "Tell me. What is his relationship with Hoenhiem of light?"

I clenched my jaw "Why should I tell you?"

"If you're going to be uncooperative we will force you to talk" she frowned slightly. "And I don't want to resort to that."

"Try me." I spat.

"Very well..." Eckhart's gaze flicked to General Hess.

Before I could react he swung his arm and hit me square in the jaw with a force that sent me to the ground. I winced, pushing myself to my knees.

"Would you like to speak now?" Eckhart asked.

I laughed once, shaking my head. "Nah...not really." I wiped blood from my lip. "I'm really not that easy to break you know. I have a high pain tolerance."

"You doubt us?" Eckhart was visably starting to get annoyed. "We can do worse to you. Things you can't even imagine. We could make your life hell."

I couldn't stop laughing. It was just so funny that she thought I was just a kid who hadn't known real pain. I'd probably known more pain than her. "Hell? I've already been through it more than once. Actually I've died." The laughter from my throat sounded almost hysterical but I couldn't keep it down. "My own body has been trying to rip me apart for the past few years and sometimes the pain is so bad I can't move or breathe. But okay, sure. You can make my life hell. I'm sure, I'm sure."

Eckhart stared at me for a very long time "You are a fascinating girl... you seem to think you're invincible."

"Hardly." I forced down my laughter, locking eyes with Eckhart. My gaze was steady now. Calm. I wasn't going to let her scare me. "I'm not like you."

Eckhart's eyes narrowed. "Lock her up somewhere for the time being General. Make sure she can't escape."

My mouth twitched into a grin as I was dragged away. Sure I was a prisoner, but I could tell when I scored a blow on a person's ego.

That at least was a small victory.

* * *

"Why did you two go snooping around this guy's villa in the first place?" Envy asked as the two un-willing allies made their way down the road.

"When Liz mentioned Dr. Haushofer I was curious... I heard that name from-" Ed clenched his jaw. He forgot who he was talking to. "...never mind."

"Hoenhiem?" Envy sighed. "I can always tell when two are about to mention him. You always looks so awkward about it. I'm not blind." He continued on his way. "What was the context of this guy's name?"

"Someone he was working with before he disappeared." Ed shrugged, not making eye contact with the homunculus. "I don't know details."

"Hmm..." Envy was silent for a moment. "I wonder if they know where that bastard went."

"Don't go there Envy" Ed growled in warning.

"Where do you get off telling me where I should and shouldn't go Elric?" Envy asked, a cool note in his voice.

"Where do you get off using my name as an insult?" Ed retorted. "At least my last name isn't Hoenhiem."

"...What?" Envy stopped in his tracks.

By the tone of Envy's voice Ed knew he should back track quickly or at the very least, drop the subject. But he couldn't. The impulse to snap at Envy was almost unbearable.

"You heard me. I took my mother's name, but your last name, the name of the human you were, was Honehiem," Ed said. "If you're going to call me 'little brother' you better own your name."

"I have no last name. I'm only Envy," the homunculus said in a deadly calm voice. Though he had his back to Ed, the boy could see the tension in his body.

"Well than _Envy_." Ed growled. "Don't get side tracked by your stupid grudge. This is for Liz. It's your fault this happened in the first place."

"Why's that?" Envy sneered, turning to glare down the alchemist. "Because I'm a homunculus?"

"No! Because you killed her!"

As soon as the words left his lips Ed knew that he had made a mistake. His hand flew up to cover his mouth immediately after. Sure he blamed Envy for this whole screw up, but that didn't mean he should voice that opinion. It was a low blow and he knew it.

The silence that followed was suffocating as Envy stared blankly at Ed. For a minute no readable emotion crossing his face. Then Envy flew forward with blinding speed, giving Edward no time to react.

His fist struck Ed's face and sent him flying back into the wall. A blow to his stomach followed almost immediately after sending Edward to his knees, gasping. He barely had any time to regain his breath before he felt a hand wrap around his neck and lift him, slamming him against the wall. Edward kicked his legs but his feet hovered well off the ground. He couldn't get any traction.

"That was a bad move." Edward found himself staring down into Envy's deadly eyes. Though he was in human form, his irises had gone violet, showing his homunculus nature. It sent a shiver of fear through Edward. The grip on his neck tightened and Ed choked, gripping Envy's hand desperately with his own.

"...Envy...don't..." Edward barely managed to choke out the words. He felt his vision starting to become fuzzy.

Was Envy seriously going to kill him this time? Liz wasn't around to stop him. He could...

All at once the viciousness subsided from Envy's violet eyes as if he had just remembered something. He released Edward.

Ed fell to his knees coughing and gasping, trying to draw air back into his lungs. He was going to have finger shaped bruises on his neck for at least a week.

"You should know, _little brother._ " Envy hissed from above him. "If it wasn't for Liz I would kill you right here."

Coughing the younger boy looked up into Envy's still cold eyes. "If it wasn't for Liz... you would've killed me two years ago."

Envy blinked, almost conceding the point, before he turned and walked away. Ed stood shakily to his feet. Then he followed after him.

He didn't really have a choice, did he?

* * *

Envy couldn't believe he hadn't killed the boy right then. He should've. He could've... he almost did. So why hadn't he? It was because he had promised Liz. That was all. But why should one lousy promise mean so much to him? Why the hell should he care about any humans? Why did his feelings betray him?

Emotion... that was a weakness for a homunculus. They had no souls and they shouldn't have emotion. It made them weak.

 _"Do you really believe that?"_

Envy almost jumped at a voice in his head. It was achingly familiar. He had heard it before... at the gate.

 _"Correct. I am Truth,"_ the voice answered.

There was a long pause before Envy thought, _"What do you want?"_

 _"To impose questions that help you make sense of these emotions Envy,"_ Truth answered simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

 _"Really?"_ Envy thought. _"Do you do this a lot or are you just my problem?"_

 _"Hardly"_ Truth cackled. _"Ask that little girl Liz. I've been in her head for two years straight!"_

Envy blinked. _"I'm sorry... what?"_

 _"You heard me. She gets quite annoyed too."_

 _"I can't imagine why"_

 _"Aren't we in a bad mood today?"_

 _"Get to the point already."_

" _I want to ask,"_ Truth said calmly. _"Do you really believe that emotions are the cause of weakness?"_

 _"Yes."_ Envy answered without hesitation. _"Emotions make humans weak as a whole... that and their kindness..."_

 _"Really?"_ Truth seemed amused. _"Then you believe Liz is weak?"_

The question pulled Envy up short _"I..."_

 _"It's a simple question homunculus."_

Envy was silent for a minute before replying. _"No..."_

 _"And yet she has a very kind heart... she has lived several years of her life helping two brothers reach their goals without consideration for her own because she wanted to right the wrongs of the past. For someone who could have drowned herself in guilt or hate, she chose another path."_

Envy didn't respond. He didn't have a counter argument really. Liz's kindness was what made her so strange. Why should she want to be kind to anyone after what happened to her family?

" _What about Alphonse Elric?"_ Truth asked. _"Do you believe him weak despite your animosity towards the Elrics?"_

Envy thought again for a minute _"...maybe not..."_

 _"He is possible one of the kindest, purest souls in the world, especially for someone who has seen so much,"_ Truth said. _"He's understanding, forgiving, and he tries to see everyone's good side. He gave himself up to save Liz and his brother. And now he doesn't recall any of those long years spent trying to recover his original body. The last thing remembers is the human transmutation of his mother. In his mind he's never even met Liz."_

 _"What?"_ Envy was taken aback by this. _"You mean he-"_

 _"But you don't care do you Envy?"_

 _"I..."_ the homunculus was frustrated by the sudden indecision. He would normally reply no immediately. But he almost owed the tin can for bringing Liz back.

 _"And despite your hatred for him,"_ Truth continued. _"Do you think Edward is weak?"_

Anger bubbled through Envy _"If you seriously expect me to-"_

 _"Drop your hatred for one moment homunculus. You can't always look at things from one view point. That's so boring,"_ Truth said.

Envy was silent for a long time before he replied, _"He's annoying as hell. I hate him. But he might not be... that weak."_

 _"He was called the hero of the people because he actually tried to help others,"_ Truth said. _"Killing was just as hard for him as it is for Liz. He was even guilty when he killed Greed... did you know that? The homunculus kidnapped his brother and he felt guilty. And though he himself felt weak, he forced himself to be strong for his younger brother."_

 _"Why are you telling me all this?"_ Envy asked after a moment.

 _"I am trying to let you see that kindness and emotion are not bad things. Your natural impulse is to reject compassion as it is the opposite of Envy. But this game is much bigger than you imagine and you will have to comprehend other emotions one day soon,"_ Truth said.

 _"What are you talking about?"_

 _"I have a larger plan at work. What you think is an end drawing toward you is only the start. The end is not what it seems."_ Truth sounded almost giddy.

 _"I have no idea what you're talking about."_ Envy sighed, starting to get very annoyed with the voice in his head. _"It sounds like you're planning to use me as a pawn."_

 _"Perhaps, perhaps. Whatever the case, try to expand your perspective. It will make you more useful to me,"_ Truth said. _"I have to go."_

 _"Small graces..."_ Envy muttered.

 _"Hehe. See you soon."_

Envy sighed and looked back to see Ed still walking behind him, his gaze wary.

 _"He really does care about Liz,"_ Envy mused. _"If he's still coming with me after that."_ He faced forward again and called "Keep up pipsqueak! I don't actually know where this place is you know! You're still supposed to be showing me!"

"...I'm not a pipsqueak" Ed muttered behind him.

 _"Wonder if he's ever had a voice in his head?"_ Envy thought.

"Sure you aren't..."

* * *

 _ **A/N: And there you go. Tune in next week for the continuing reluctant alliance. Until then, happy reading!**_


	13. Chapter 12: Sacrifice

_**A/N: Happy Tuesday! As usual, I am eternally inconsistent with my updates, but hey, that's just par for the course, isn't it? Anyway, enjoy!**_

 **Chapter 12: Sacrifice**

"This is it?" Envy asked as the gigantic manor came into view. It was visable even from a distance, a true idol to wealth. "Why any human would need this much space is beyond me."

"Dante had a whole city underground and you call _this_ big?" Ed asked.

"Hmm, good point," Envy said. "I always found that place impractical."

"...Your agreeing with me is freaking me out."

"Don't worry, it's a rare thing."

"Right." Ed sighed still eyeing the homunculus warily. Ever since earlier that day, he felt like anything he said would make Envy snap. And he wasn't eager to be strangled again. It wasn't a pleasant experience.

"So...Give me a lay out," Envy said as they climbed the iron fence and entered the property. "Are there a lot of guards around the place?"

"Unfortunately yeah." Ed nodded. "This place is crawling with them."

Envy flashed a wide, malicious grin "It's not unfortunate pipsqueak. How else do you think we're going to find Liz?"

Ed swallowed in spite of himself. "Look Envy, don't... kill anyone, ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know...They can't talk if they're dead." Envy rolled his eyes. "And the goal here is to be stealthy. The less encounters the better."

"Right. We want to get Liz before they know we're here and get out."

"...Right"

Ed couldn't put his finger on it but there was something off about Envy's voice at this word. Like he had his doubts. Or like he was hiding something. Ed shrugged the feeling away quickly. He didn't have time to worry about Envy. In fact, he never planned on worrying about Envy in his life.

They would get Liz and she would be fine. Everything would be fine. That was what Ed had to keep telling himself anyway. He couldn't let himself consider any other possibility.

Once they reached the back wall of the building Envy sighed and closed his eyes. "Well, I'm getting out of this damn body." There was a long flashing as Envy morphed into his old form, pale, skinny with long, dark hair and violet eyes. The only thing that stayed the same was the smirk. "This form is easier to move in." He brushed his hair over his shoulder.

This was the first time Ed had seen Envy back in his normal form since that day two years ago. He remembered now just how much he really hated the sight of him. "Right. Let's hurry and get this done."

"Yes, working with you is starting to make me sick," Envy agreed.

"My thoughts exactly." Ed retorted.

No one had repaired the broken window through which Ed and Liz had entered the last time they had gone snooping around. That was a lucky break. Envy was able to jump easily through the window in a single in human leap while Ed had to clamber up a little more ungracefully. He lost his footing on the stone and his foot slipped, causing him to start careening back to the ground.

"Watch it."

Envy grasped his wrist before he could tip back anymore and jerked him the rest of the way through the window. Edward went sprawling on the hard wood floor of the hall.

"Graceful pipsqueak," Envy remarked.

"We can't all be super human," Ed snapped, bringing himself to his feet. He really hated having to accept help from this damn homunculus. "Now what?"

"Hey! Who are you?"

Ed turned to see two guards who had just come around the corner.

"Now, because you decided to be loud..." Envy grinned broadly. "I get to have fun."

Before the guards could react, Envy lunged at them, knocking the first out in one swift blow to the head. He turned on his heels in an instant and disarmed the second guard, seizing his arm and twisting it painfully behind his back. Envy slammed his victim up against the wall and drew a dagger from the man's belt. He jammed it into the wall beside his neck. " _If you scream, I will slit your throat_."

Ed stared wide eyed. The homunculus had moved... really quickly. He had forgotten how fast Envy could be. He couldn't think of anyone else who could match that speed except maybe his teacher.

Envy's captive was wide eyed with fear, sweat running down his brow. "I-I won't scream. I won't."

"Good. I'm glad you're so cooperative," Envy said in a deadly voice. He leaned down next to the man's ear. "Do you happen to know where a girl named Liz is being kept? A quick answer would be nice."

"N-No..." the man replied, his eyes never leaving the blade that hovered inches from his neck.

"You wouldn't happen to be lying to me would you?" Envy flipped the knife so that the man could see the hilt. "I'm not stupid. This is one of her knives. Unless you can describe that little pattern there on the hilt."

Ed drew in a sharp breath and looked at the hilt as well. Sure enough, the transmutation circle was engraved on the hilt

"I...uh..." the man stuttered helplessly.

"I'm going to ask you again," Envy hissed. "Where is she?" At the man's silence a demonic smile crept across his face. "If you don't tell me I'll have to force you to talk. I can make your death _very_ painful. We'll start with shredding that lying tongue of yours." He tapped the blade of the knife on the corner of the man's mouth. "That way you can't scream when I start taking all of your fingers one at a time. You'll be too busy choking on your own blood. What do you say? Hmm?"

"Alright!" the man finally sobbed. "Just don't kill me. Take a left at the end of the hall, and then take the third turn on your right. She's the fifth door down!"

"There, that wasn't so hard was it?" Envy knocked the man over the head with the hilt of the knife and let him drop to the ground. He drew the second knife from the unconscious man's belt and held them out to Ed, his expression utterly calm. "She's going to want these back. You hold onto them."

Ed cautiously took the blades. "Would you have actually done any of that?"

Envy raised an eyebrow "Scared, Fullmetal?" Ed glared at him indignantly and he sighed. "No Probably not. I wouldn't want to get that cowards blood on Liz's knives. Come on."

Ed had a funny feeling that two or three years ago Envy would've done everything he had just threatened.

And watching Envy's chat with the guard Ed _had_ been a little bit afraid.

He followed Envy down the hall toward the place where Liz was being held. The homunculus suddenly stopped walking and spoke. "Hey, pipsqueak. After we get Liz, you know the way out don't you? You can get her out by yourself?"

"Sure I do," Ed said. "I've been here multiple times, haven't I?"

"Good," Envy said. "That's good."

There was something strange about his voice. It seemed almost...distant. Ed knew he shouldn't press Envy, and yet, he had been acting kind of odd. "Why...do you ask?"

"No reason," Envy said. "It just might be important."

"No, it's not just that." Ed circled around, standing in front of Envy. "Why are you asking if I can get her out by myself. Planning to get seperated from us?"

Envy shrugged. "Yeah, that's the plan."

"But why would you need to-" Ed stopped in mid-sentence, realization dawning on him. "You're not planning on leaving this place... are you?"

"These people know where Hoenhiem is. I'm going to find out." Envy murmured, walking past Ed. Ed didn't move to stop him. He was too shocked. "And you and Liz will be able to escape."

"Why does that matter!" Ed demanded, whirling around. "Even if they do know, what are you going to do? There are a lot of them Envy. You won't be able to beat your way through to get to Hoenhiem. You're not invincible! If you stay they're going to end up... using you for the circle..." Ed trailed off as the homunculus glanced back at him. He still wore the slightest of smirks but there was something sad about it. Resigned.

"Have you figured it out yet little brother?"

"You're going to let them..." Ed shook his head. "Idiot! Why?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Was this... was this the plan all along? This was the only reason you actually let me come along isn't it?"

"Yeah." Envy started walking forward again but Ed caught his wrist in his fake hand just to ensure he had a good hold.

"Wait... Envy..."

"What?" Envy asked.

"I can't..." Ed clenched his jaw in frustration, closing his eyes. "I can't let you do this."

"Why?" Envy asked seeming genuinely surprised.

"Because you idiot!" Ed exclaimed. "I already told you why. You can't just leave. Liz-"

"Has you."

Ed stared wide eyed at the homunculus unable to retort.

Envy sighed. "You two are best friends. You care a lot about each other, right? That's why she threw herself in front of you during our fight."

"Not like that!" Ed protested. "She's a sister to me. You're different for her." He drew in a shaky breath "She told me everything... about why you..."

"I figured she had." Once again Ed was stunned silent as the homunculus continued. "It's the only reason why you came to me to get help. You're reckless, and you would've tried to get her out yourself but you knew I would help. You had to have known about our relationship."

"But, you'd leave her behind for this? For Hoenhiem?" Ed asked. "Look, revenge might sound great, but it isn't-"

"It's not normal revenge little brother. Don't rate it on that level," Envy said. "I've carried this grudge for over four hundred years. It is in my nature to carry all this hatred, and I can't let it drop so easily. You'll never know what it's like to carry a grudge for that long. At this point, I need it gone, even if it costs me my life..." A bitter smile spread over Envy's face. "That grudge only goes away if Honehiem dies with it. It's the only way."

"But-"

"And if the gate opens then Liz can go back home." Envy cut him off. "I know it's been killing her being stuck here. She needs to get back before she snaps. Hell, maybe there's medical alchemy that can help her with those seizures."

"What about them trying to invade our world?" Ed demanded.

"Somehow I think that you guys will be able to handle that. You two are so good at defeating the impossible. You built your reputation on that...idiot prodigies that you are," Envy said.

Ed didn't know what to say. It almost sounded like Envy was putting some sort of trust in him. Or maybe he was just lamenting that Edward didn't die easily. Still, it was the first time his sarcastic tone lacked any bite. He had never seen the homunculus like this.

"Look, pipsqueak." Envy sighed. "I'm going to do whatever I want. You should know that. I'm not telling you because I want your opinion. I'm telling you because you're going to have to keep Liz from following me. You have to get her out. Don't let her...die for something stupid again."

"But-"

"Promise me, Edward."

Ed stared. It was the first time his actual first name had exited the homunculus's mouth. He didn't want to promise the homunculus anything. But Envy wouldn't listen to him and he couldn't let Liz get caught up in the cross fire. Not again. What choice did he really have?

"Damn it Envy," he growled. "She's going to hate me for this."

"Is that a yes?"

 _'I'm sorry Liz...'_

"Yes."

* * *

 _ **A/N: A short chapter but rife with drama. Hope you enjoyed and be sure to review!**_


End file.
